To the Late are Left the Bones
by JJGrace42
Summary: "Question: If I shot you, how long would it take for you to die?" "You're assuming time works the same way for me as it does for everyone else." "Doesn't it?" "Not even close." OC-Insert fanfic. Rated M for violence, strong themes, and language.
1. One Cat, Two Cat, Red Cat, Blue Cat

**Author's Note:** The italicized scenes at the beginning of each chapter are scenes that differ from canon. They might have occurred before the entire series or just before that chapter itself, and they might have occurred on a different timeline. So yes, I expect it all to be confusing. Yay! (Sorry, I'm got out of the ER earlier this week and I'm still super high on narcotics from the doctor, so TBH I'm not sure if half of what I'm saying makes any sense.)

Also, yes, I'm well aware I have waaaay too many WIPs. Trust me, what I have published is like 1% of what's working on my computer right now.

* * *

Chapter One - One Cat, Two Cat, Red Cat, Blue Cat

 _"_ _And if you don't die somewhere along the line, you'll be an independent agent in four years."_

 _She barely stopped in time to avoid running into him, trying to force down the feeling of suffocation that was wrapping itself around her heart. "Okay," she squeaked out. Then her eyes widened and she cleared her throat. "Sorry! Er, I mean, um." She cleared her throat a second time and then confidently said. "Okay."_

 _He stared at her. Then he sighed. "I'm going to regret this."_

 _She winced. "I didn't mean to— This isn't— Wait—" She groaned. Then she straightened and focused._

 ** _Blink._**

 _"—_ _don't die somewhere along the line, you'll be an independent agent in four years."_

 _She barely stopped in time, reorienting herself. Then she straightened. "Thank you, sir."_

 _Fury nodded once. "Good. Barton is waiting for you." He pushed open the door to the gym and waved her inside. "Good luck."_

 _She stepped in and glanced back when he closed the door. Then she cleared her throat and glanced around the gym. A few people were in there, working in pairs or individually. But none of them looked like the person she was there for. Ariel frowned and turned. Maybe if Fury was still there she could catch him in time to—_

 _"_ _Hayward, right?"_

 _She barely managed to stifle the way her heart jumped at that and she stared up at the man that hadn't been there before. "Yes, sir. Are you Barton?"_

 _"_ _Last I checked," he said, shaking her hand firmly. Then he motioned and started walking over to a clear area of the gym. "And please, call me Clint. I'm not gonna force someone to call me Barton while I'm beating their ass."_

 _Her eyebrows shot up. "I'm not exactly unable to defend myself."_

 _"_ _Maybe not," he said, shrugging as he came to a stop. He faced her. "But there's a difference between being skilled and being on my level. Call me humble. We're going to start things off with a baseline test. Okay?" He didn't even wait for an answer. "Hit me."_

 _"_ _Hit you?" she asked, settling into a stance._

 _"_ _You're going to do whatever you can to hit me." He smirked. "We'll probably be here a while."_

 _"_ _Whatever I can?" A smile curved her lips. "Okay." Ariel took a deep breath._

 ** _Blink._**

 _"_ _-between being skilled and being on my level. Call me—" Clint broke off with a yelp of surprise as her fist slammed into his face. "What the hell?" he sputtered._

 _"_ _You told me to do whatever I can to hit you," she said innocently._

 _"_ _That doesn't—" He groaned, touching his fingers against his nostrils and then glancing at them to check if he was bleeding. "I really didn't mean use your powers. Let's try that again. This is supposed to let me measure your—" He cut himself off just in time to catch her fist. "Seriously?"_

 _"_ _You said to try again!"_

 _"_ _God, why did Coulson put me up to this?" He pinched his nose. "When I say go, try to hit me without using your powers, okay?"_

 _"_ _Fine."_

 _"_ _Go."_

 _He leaned easily to the side to avoid her first punch and then deflected the one that followed immediately. She swept at his feet as a distraction, but it wasn't good enough. A frown curled her lips and she threw a punch again, followed by another. He grabbed her around the wrists and frowned. "See, I heard that you were gonna be bet—"_

 _He swallowed his words when her forehead slammed into his nose and he gurgled for air. Ariel ripped her hands from his and grinned at him. "How was that?"_

 _"_ _Fuck!" He made a strangled sound and leaned forward, pinching the bridge of his nose and watching the blood splatter on the floor. "Alright, you like to play dirty." His voice was nasally. "I can work with that. Now get me a goddamn icepack."_

 _"_ _A— right. Where—" She turned, searching. She found the shelving unit along the back wall and moved over to it. She retrieved an icepack and wipes. "Here. Uh, sorry," she said, holding out the icepack. When he took it, she got down on her knees and started wiping up the blood. She stood up to find him holding out a hand. "Right." Ariel gave him a wipe._

 _Clint cleaned off the blood on his skin and cleared his throat. "That was a bit uncalled for."_

 _She took the bloody wipes and threw them away. Then she dried her hands on her shorts. "Sorry. Maybe I shouldn't have hit you so hard."_

 _He lowered the icepack, wrinkling his nose as if to try to make sure that it had stopped bleeding. "I let you," he said simply. "How about we move on to your aiming?" Motioning to her, he kept the icepack against his nose again and led the way out the door. "Shooting range is this way. You good with a gun?"_

 _"_ _I hit within an inch of the bullseye nine times out of ten," she said, shoving her hands in her pockets._

 _"_ _Yeah, not good enough."_

 _"_ _Really?"_

 _"_ _My job is to turn you into a top-tier agent. And you can't even think about being that until you hit the bullseye every time."_

* * *

"And that's why Schrödinger got a Nobel Prize. He theorized about the time-evolution of wave-function, which is, as you know, the postulate of quantum mechanics. He decided it had to be unitary, which of course ties in with the quantum Ham—"

"No, there's no 'as you know' involved here. You lost me about three hours ago when you first started adding numbers to this conversation. There has been absolutely no me knowing anything involved anywhere." Clint didn't look at her, still crouching on the catwalk with his gaze fixed on everything happening far below them.

"Well excuse me for trying to figure this out. I'm just trying to come up with something more substantial for the director than your door analogy." She scratched out a few more notes in the book open across her knee. "Do you think he'll want me to explain Heisenberg's uncertainty principle? It's a little difficult to get into, but I think it would help me explain everything else much better."

"If you think so. You're not putting together a PowerPoint, are you?"

"Coulson told me that PowerPoint presentations can be essential for proper and efficient communication within a group that consists of more than two individuals that are approaching a situation from various levels of knowledge. And that it's beneficial in maintaining a steady—"

"Right, right. God, why did I ever let him near you?" Clint groused, finally throwing a glance in her direction, though it was only to pout. "Besides, you don't have time for that. He's here."

"I know. But I _could_ have time if I really wanted to." She snapped her thick notebook shut and then leaned forward, staring down at the path Selvig was taking Fury on. "He's rambling."

"A bit," he agreed. "He's a scientist, though. They all tend to do that. A PhD is like a free pass on eccentricity."

"Huh. I should get a doctorate."

"That," —he turned a stare to her— "is a terrible idea and I wouldn't wish that type of punishment on the world. You'd be insufferable."

"Barton, Hayward," Fury called. "Report."

Clint hopped up over the railing and rappelled down to the floor. Ariel tucked her pencil behind her ear and her notebook under her arm before following close behind. She landed in a slight crouch and turned a grin to the man waiting for them. "Hey, Director. You're looking good. Did you hit the spa recently?"

His one-eyed gaze flicked from Clint to her, sharply. "Let's take a walk, you two." He turned on his heel.

Clint glanced sideways at her and signed _touchy,_ raising his eyebrows and pursing his lips. Ariel grinned and fell into step behind Fury. "Of course, sir. You know how much I enjoy a good stroll."

Fury made a scoffing down and shook his head, turning down a hallway before stopping. He turned to face them. "I gave you two this detail so you could keep a close eye on things."

"I see better from a distance," Clint replied easily, studying his fingernails. "I taught Ariel, so it makes sense that she'd be the same way."

"Are you seeing anything that might set this thing off?" Fury asked, glancing past the partition over to where the scientists were bustling about their laboratory set up.

Clint shook his head. "No one's come or gone. No contacts, no IMs. If there was any tampering, sir, it wasn't at this end."

Something in Fury's demeanor changed and he straightened. "At this end?"

"Yeah. The cube is a doorway, right? To the other end of space?" Clint frowned. "Ariel's looked into it more, but it seems pretty basic to me. Doors open from both sides."

"Right. Hayward, report."

"Do you want the short version or the long version?" she asked, holding out her thick and worn notebook to him. He took it, but she didn't wait for a response to her question before she continued. "Are you familiar with quantum tunneling? Of the nuclear fusion processes that happen in the Sun?"

"No," he said dryly. "I can't say I'm exactly familiar with that."

"Um, right. What about microprocessors? So if you think about the transistors in those—"

Thunder ripped through her words and Ariel crouched, bracing herself as the floor shook. Clint threw an arm in front of her, his hand going to the gun at his hip. "What the fuck?"

"The Tesseract," Ariel breathed. Her hand went to her own gun. "That's not good."

Fury moved back towards the raised platform and Clint and Ariel carefully kept themselves placed between him and the cube. "Selvig," Fury snapped out. "What's going on?"

Blue arced from the surface of the cube and the roar started winding up. Selvig was standing at the controls, shaking his head as he studied the numbers. "I don't know!"

With a loud, trembling whine, blue spewed out of the cube and shot across the room. Ariel brought up her gun and scowled when there was no enemy for her to fight here, just whistling energy pooling in mid-air. The humming got louder, higher, sharper. Her earpiece started going haywire, blaring in her ear, and to her right she saw Clint's hand snapping up to his hearing aids. The screeching became unbearable and she clawed her coms unit out and dropped it.

The pool of energy exploded outward in a maelstrom and the air whipped across everyone in the room, sending technology and papers scattering. The energy itself scattered upward in a tornado of light, gathering at the ceiling. Ariel kept her gun up, shaking her head to try to clear the spots in her vision.

There was a figure on the platform where previously there'd been nothing. He rose to his feet—tall, imposing, pale—and sharp blue eyes looked around the room, scanning everyone and everything inside.

Ariel steeled herself. "I'm thinking hostile," she said, training her gun on the man.

"Sir!" Fury yelled. "Please put down the spear!"

The man looked down at the staff he was holding, almost as if he hadn't realized before that it was there. He lifted it, as if considering its presence. Then his arm tensed.

"Sir!" Ariel said, tackling Fury out of the way of the blast. The heat seared against her skin as it shot by. The air filled with the sound of gunfire and Ariel scrambled forward so that she was between the director and the intruder. She heard Clint helping Fury to her feet behind her. The man was just standing there, seemingly unphased by the bullets ricocheting off his body.

Then he jumped, soaring through the air and tackling one of the men holding a machine gun. Ariel shot, but her bullet was just as ineffective as those before her. So she just caught her breath when the intruder's weapon speared through a fellow agent's chest. "Sir, we need to get you out of here."

"The Tesseract," Fury said sharply.

"Where the hell did he go?" Clint spat out.

He spun on the spot and Ariel did the same, bringing up her gun again. Clint ducked a hit from the attacker and got off a couple shots, not that they did much good. The man grabbed his wrist, stopping his gun in his tracks, and smiled. The expression was thin and sickly and sharp. "You have heart," he murmured, bringing the spear up to Clint's chest.

The veins in Clint's neck flashed blue and he paused. Ariel swallowed and threw a cautious glance behind her. Fury was moving towards the Tesseract, case in hand, and so she returned her focus fully to her teacher just in time to see him lower his weapon. He turned to her, eyes burning blue. She frowned. "Hands in the air!" she yelled, not sure if she was ordering Clint or the man next to him.

Clint stepped between her and the intruder and leveled his gun at her. "Stand down."

She faltered. "I— Clint?"

"I said stand down."

She stared at those blue eyes and then her gaze flicked to the man, who was grinning loosely. Ariel scowled.

 **Blink.**

"Where the hell did he go?"

Ariel turned and shoved past Clint. She ducked under the spear and slammed her gun into the man's middle. He grunted and an elbow snapped into her chin, throwing her head back. Then another hand came around her head, gripping her hair, and cold metal pressed into her chest.

He leered at her. "You have heart."

Ice raced through her lungs, stealing away her ability to breath. Her vision went black. And then it went blue.

She was staring at him, but she wasn't _seeing_ him. No, she was seeing so much more than that. The hand gripping her head loosened and fell away and she dropped her gaze to meet his. "Do you see it?" she gasped.

His gaze flicked across her face. "See . . . it? What is it you see?"

Her eyes shuttered closed for a moment and she took a long, trembling breath. "Everything. I see— It's _beautiful."_

"Hayward!" a familiar voice behind her barked. "What are you doing?"

She turned and locked her gaze on Clint. "You can't see it, can you?" she asked, sadness creeping into her voice. "You're missing so much."

His expression was dark and he kept his gun up, looking between her and the man that has _shown_ it all to her. "Stand down."

"I'm sorry."

"Please don't," the stranger interrupted. "I need that."

Ariel jerked her gaze to Fury where he was crouched in front of his case, the Tesseract inside. He flipped the lid shut and slowly got to his feet. "This doesn't have to get any messier."

"Of course it does! I've come too far for anything else. I am Loki of Asgard, and I am burdened with glorious purpose."

Selvig climbed shakily to his feet. "Loki?" he rasped out. "Brother of Thor?"

Loki glared at him, but anything he might have said was interrupted by Fury. "We have no quarrel with your people." He glanced to the side at Clint as the man backed up to stand beside him.

"An ant has no quarrel with a boot," Loki responded easily, stepping towards the scientist.

"You planning to step on us?"

Ariel dragged her gaze across the room as they spoke, numbering the agents with the blue eyes. The agents that could _see._ Too few. Far too few.

"Once you accept that, in your heart," —Loki touched his spear against Selvig's chest. The man gasped and blue crawled up his neck. Ariel smiled. If anyone could understand, Selvig would— "you will know peace."

"Yeah, you say peace. I kinda think you mean the other thing."

Ariel glanced towards the energy boiling on the ceiling. "He's distracting us," she murmured.

"She's right," Selvig said, leaning over one of his computers. "The portal is collapsing in on itself. You got maybe two minutes before this goes critical."

"Well, then . . . ." Loki glanced at Ariel. "It's your time, my dear. Take care of them."

She glanced curiously towards Fury and Clint and tilted her head to the side. "Come with us," she offered eagerly. "Then I can show you. It's so _beautiful,_ Clint. I've never seen anything like it before."

"You're going crazy," he ground up. "Snap the hell out of it, Ariel!"

She sighed. "Fine, then." Then she brought her gun up and got off two quick shots. Both men dropped like stones. She pivoted, moving her gun to Loki. Bullets might not work initially, but technically she could have all the time in the world to kill him if she really wanted.

"What are you doing?" Loki demanded.

"I don't need you anymore," she said absently. "You've shown me it and now you're just in my way."

His expression flickered dangerously and then he smiled. "Oh, but I'm not. You've seen it all, but I can help you _understand_ it. You do need me. I can explain, help you learn."

She considered that for a long moment. Then she nodded and lowered her gun. "I'll get you out of here." Ariel climbed onto the raised platform. Movement caught her eye and she glanced to the side at Clint. "We can't have that," she mused. She stepped forward and dug her heel into the wound in his shoulder. "Stay down," she warned. "It's better that way."

He groaned, shrinking away from the pressure and gasping wildly. She leaned all of her weight into him as she stooped down to pick up the case. "Thanks for this. It'll be helpful." When she stepped back, Clint whimpered just a touch.

Tesseract in hand, she turned and moved past Loki. "Vehicle this way," she said, voice clipped. "The entrance tunnel is guarded, but that won't be a problem."

"Excellent," Loki rasped.

She led him down a level, cutting easily through the SHIELD agents that tried to stop them. When they reached the parking garage, she directed several agents forward into cars and passed the Tesseract to Loki. "We need these vehicles."

"Who is he?" Hill demanded.

"That's need to know."

 _"_ _Hill! Do you copy?"_ Fury's voice came blaring through the walkie-talkie on the agent's belt. _"Hayward is turned!"_

Those words made Hill snap up her gun and Ariel sighed. "I really wish you hadn't done that."

 **Blink.**

 _"_ _Hill! Do you copy?"_

Ariel lifted her gun and the bullet dropped Hill like a rock, shot clean through her forehead. She stooped and unhooked the walkie-talkie from the woman's belt before moving to the driver's side. "We have one minute left." And the moment the car's engine was running, she floored the accelerator.

The walkie-talkie crackled to life again. _"He's got the Tesseract! Track it down!"_

Ariel turned a corner. "Followers?" she snapped out.

"None," Loki called through the window, sounding pleased.

The vehicle burst out into the night and the ground rumbled beneath them. White flashed in the rearview mirror. The steering wheel began to shake and the ground began to crumble apart behind them. Ariel frowned and sped along down the road.

She glanced aside at the helicopter rising into the air. "Chopper," she said sharply. "Take it out."

She wasn't disappointed when Loki blasted the helicopter out of the sky and, in a whirlwind of flames, it crashed to the ground. A smile twitched Ariel's lips.

 _"_ _Director? Director Fury, do you copy?"_

She frowned down at the walkie-talkie.

 _"_ _The Tesseract is with the hostile force. I have men down. Hill?"_

No response. The smile returned.

 _"_ _Sound the general call,"_ Fury ordered. _"I want every living soul not working rescue looking for that briefcase."_

Loki's voice came through the window over the roar of the wind. "Let's find somewhere to hole up, my dear."

 _"_ _Coulson, get back to base."_

Ariel nodded. "I'll make sure to keep them off our tail. Selvig? You ready?"

 _"_ _This is a Level 7."_

"Of course," the scientist breathed, staring out the car window at the starry sky.

 _"_ _As of right now, we are at war."_


	2. A Rose By Any Other Name

Chapter Two - A Rose By Any Other Name Would Still Stab You

 _She ripped the flower up by its roots and stared at the carcass left in her hands. "Huh," she mumbled. "Thought it would be sadder." She closed her fist around the plant and crushed it beneath her fingers, concentrating._

 ** _Blink._**

 _The flower stared up at her, standing straight and proud. She gripped one of the petals and tore it off._

 ** _Blink._**

 _The flower looked almost accusatory this time, though she knew that it wasn't. There was no way it knew what she was doing. Yet, it was almost like it was glaring at her. She ground it into the dirt with the heel of her hand._

 ** _Blink._**

 _"_ _How come I can save you?" she spat. "How come I can save you but I couldn't save him?"_

* * *

"I'm gonna break his neck."

"I don't know if you can do anything with your shoulder as it is now. Sit still," she ordered, gripping his chin tightly. She dipped her fingers into the jar. "You need to get some rest. You won't be doing her any good if you try to save her as you are now." She began rubbing the cream onto his cheek.

He hissed and ducked his head away. "That stings."

"Don't be a baby," she mocked, though the tone of her words was more stressed than normal. "This will help with the bruising. Make you look less like a mottled prune."

Clint huffed at that and glared off to the side. But he crossed his arms and let her do her work. After a couple minutes, she shifted to stand behind him and began massaging the gel into the black and purple skin there.

"You should have seen her," he finally rasped out. "It was her, but it was like I was looking at someone totally different."

Natasha hummed a sound of agreement. "She shot you," she conceded. "I think we can confidently assume that she wasn't exactly in control of her own head at that point in time." She screwed the lid back on the jar and set it aside. "Do you really think she would ever actually choose to shoot you?"

"Well—"

"You know exactly what I mean." She lifted his arm out and gently rotated his shoulder as she worked out the stress there. "That wasn't Ariel."

"What if she's never Ariel again?"

She twisted his shoulder a little sharper than it needed and nodded in satisfaction when that wrenched a cry of pain and surprise from him. "Don't talk like that, you idiot."

"Ow." He threw a pout at her, but there was no real energy behind it. "That hurt."

"As it should have." She dropped his arm and stepped over the bench with a sigh before sitting next to him. "If she wanted you dead, you would be dead. You and I know very well that she wouldn't miss a shot from that close up."

He glanced at her tensely. But then he nodded and slumped forward, burying his face in his hands. "She's still in there," he breathed. "I can bring her back."

 _"_ _We_ can bring her back. You're not rescuing my Kotyonok without me."

* * *

"And SHIELD? They won't be able to find us here?"

Her glare cut to the man. "I did what was asked of me. Are you really questioning that?" She dropped her attention back down to the tablet in her hands.

"Put it over there," the scientist ordered one of the newcomers holding a box of materials. Then he turned to her fully. "Where did you find all these people?"

"Here and there," she said curtly, turning the tablet and thrusting it into his face. "Iridium. Right?"

"That's it. It's found in meteor—"

"I know what it is. Now, I just need to find it." Ariel lowered the tablet and stared at her hand instead. "Do you feel it, Selvig?" She turned her palm up and studied the blue pulsating beneath her skin. "Do you see it?"

"I do." Selvig's head jerked to the side when he saw Loki enter and his entire being brightened. "The Tesseract is showing me so much!" he announced breathlessly. "It's more than just knowledge. It's . . . it's truth."

A tired smile touched Loki's pale, drawn face. "I know. Just as I promised you. And you, Agent Hayward?" He reached out a hand and pressed it onto her shoulder. "What has it done for you?"

She flinched at the contact and her hands snapped into fists. Blue sparked along her skin and, with a loud crunch, the tablet crumpled into a ball of metal and wires. She sighed and turned her hand, letting the ruined technology drop to the ground. "What it's done for me is help me destroy three perfectly good pieces of equipment within as many hours." She stared at the blue still dancing across her skin. "It's amazing." Ariel dragged her gaze up to him.

Loki was watching her in fascination. He reached for her and gripped her hands in his. "Show me," he murmured. "What can you do?"

"We have a deal," she said, twisting her hands from his. "I'm not a show pony. And you're supposed to be teaching me in exchange for _this."_ She jerked a thumb at their surroundings.

His lips curled, though she wasn't sure if it was a smile or a sneer. "Fascinating. Your resistance to the Stone. It's," —he tapped his cold fingers against her forehead— "something to be admired. Though I will admit that I'm not without questions. Without envy."

"It's not resistance." She reached up and batted his hand away. "It's there. Fighting it takes energy I would rather spend elsewhere." She turned her hand out and focused on the heat there. The blue beneath her skin vanished for a moment before reappearing with a vengeance, gliding along her bones. "Explain this."

He stepped around so he was at her side. "Gladly," he cooed. "Let me show you."

* * *

"Agent Romanoff, Agent Barton. Captain Rogers."

"Agents," Steve greeted, holding out his hand.

"Hi," she said absently, gaze shifting to Coulson. "They need you on the Bridge."

Her companion covered over her social faux pas and shook Steve's hand firmly. "Glad you could make it," he said. "We need all the help we can get."

"So I understand. I, uh, read the files. Or at least what they gave me. I'm glad to have capable teammates watching my back."

Natasha mumbled something in incoherent Russian, turning back as Coulson left them. She fixed Steve with a smile. "Likewise. Though up until a year ago, I never would have thought this was an option." She turned and started walking. Clint fell in step beside her and that must have been enough of a hint because Steve did the same. "There was quite a buzz around here when they found you in the ice. I thought Coulson was gonna swoon. Did he ask you to sign his Captain America trading cards yet?"

Steve stumbled just a touch at that, though it was so slight and he caught himself so quickly that Clint wouldn't have even noticed if he hadn't already been studying him. The man glanced at Natasha. "Trading cards?"

"They're vintage," Natasha said, smiling easily. "He's very proud." She cut off any further discussion on the subject by narrowing in on their target. "Here we are."

Steve straightened in recognition. "Doctor Banner."

Bruce pulled back in surprise and took a moment to stare at them. Then he realized what was going on and shook Steve's hand. "Oh, yeah. Hi. They told me you'd be coming."

Steve gave him a confident smile. "Word is that you can find the cube."

"Is that the only word on me?" Bruce asked tightly, fiddling with his glasses.

"Only word I care about."

"As long as you can find it," Clint said, crossing his arms.

Bruce glanced at him and then between him and Natasha, nodding. "I'll do what I can."

"Gentlemen, you might want to step inside," Natasha said, motioning to them. "It's going to get a little hard to breathe." The helicarrier began to shake beneath their feet.

Steve blinked and glanced around in surprise. "Is this a submarine?" he asked in awe.

"Really?" Bruce asked, scoffing. "They want me in a submerged pressurized metal container?"

Ignoring Natasha's suggestion, the two of them moved towards the edge and looked down. Clint exchanged a glance with her and sniggered.

"Oh, no," Bruce sighed. "This is much worse."

Natasha just shook her head and turned, heading inside. "They'll follow," she murmured. "You ready?"

"Hell no," Clint muttered. "Let's just get this over with. The sooner we bring her home, the better." He glanced at the agents they passed in the hallway, doing his best not to glare at everyone. They reached the Bridge and the doors opened before them.

"We're at lock," Coulson said. "Ready, sir."

"Good," Fury said. "Let's vanish." He looked back. "Gentlemen. Coulson, bring up the report on Loki." He stepped over to them gladly accepted the ten dollar bill Steve passed to him. Fury tucked it away and said, "Doctor, thank you for coming."

"Thanks for asking nicely." He glanced awkwardly at Natasha. "So, uh, how long am I staying?"

"Once we get our hands on the Tesseract, you're in the clear."

"Where are you with that?"

Coulson cut in. "We're sweeping every wirelessly accessible camera on the planet. Cellphones, laptops. If it's connected to a satellite, it's eyes and ears for us."

Bruce shook his head. "You have to narrow the field. How many spectrometers do you have access to?"

"How many are there?" Fury asked.

While they started talking, Coulson turned his attention to Steve and Clint. "Captain, are you ready to go over the profiles we have?"

Steve refocused on him instead and nodded. "Of course." He took the tablet the agent held out to him and took a seat. "You've got profiles on Loki, Selvig, and . . . ." He frowned. "Hayward? She's not a scientist."

"Ariel Hayward." Clint reached out and tapped the profile, opening it up. "Agent, my apprentice. Loki turned her. She's not a scientist, but as long as he's in her head then she's a threat."

"No use of deadly force," Coulson said. "Not unless there is no other possible option. She's too valuable of an asset to lose."

"No use of deadly force no matter what," Clint cut in darkly. "Loki is the one that needs to pay, not her."

* * *

"Darling, you are incredible," he breathed.

She stared at her hands with an awed smile curling her lips, unable to take her attention away from the blue lacing between her fingers. "I never knew I could do this," she murmured. "Thank you." She bent her wrists, pushing her palms up towards the ceiling. The air around them trembled and the metal scraps on the floor in front of them lifted, curving into the air.

Loki curled his hands gently around her elbows. "There you go." He adjusted her arms, lifting them and turning them outward. "Keep them steady. You can't do anything with shaky hands."

"Right." She extended her hands out and the metal pieces began to spin around each other. "Can you feel it?"

"I can see it," he assured her. "You're doing beautifully." His hands dragged up to her shoulders.

The metal began to whine as it spun faster, growing tighter and closer to each other. It crumbled together, screeching as metal ground against metal and smoothed itself all together into a ragged ball. Ariel turned her palms outward and the metal glowed.

"Sir, we've located the iridium."

Ariel's gaze snapped to the side and the metal followed, slamming into the wall to the left of the agent's head. He flinched, eyes widening as he froze in place. His face was just an inch away from the hissing, sizzling ball. She flared a scowl at him. "You're interrupting."

"Now, now, dear, we don't want to fall behind schedule, do we?" Loki's hands pulled away from her. "Prepare transport," he ordered.

The terrified agent nodded and scrambled away. Ariel huffed and pushed herself to her feet. She closed her fist and the metal snapped, halves falling from the wall and to the floor. "Take your time," she said, staring down at her hands. "We want to make sure they know you're there."

"And what do you need?"

"I need you to focus." She ran her fingers over her utility belt. "And I need you to let me work. Besides, I have a couple new tricks I'd like to try out." She cut her gaze to him. "And I need an eyeball."

* * *

She stepped over the body and flicked the device out of her belt pocket. Ariel jammed it over the retinal scanner on the lock panel and waited. She glanced over her shoulder. "You're supposed to be keeping guard."

The turned agent nodded and moved so his back was to her, watching to making sure no one snuck on on them. The device in her hands whirred to life and the flickering hologram of an eye began to appear.

"I think we should stop for some drive-thru after this," she said absently. "I'm hungry."

"I'm not sure that's appropriate, ma'am," the agent said.

"That's not the kind of attitude I need, now, is it?" she asked. The lock clicked and she hooked the device back on her belt. Then she wrenched the door open. "Does Germany have a Chick-fil-a?"

"I hardly think that's a priority."

She stepped into the building and grinned at the cylinder waiting for her. "On the contrary, I think it's absolutely a priority." She stepped up to the panel and got to work shutting down the security features. "Alert the jet that we're three minutes out." She finished shutting down the security and then lifted the cylinder off of its mount. She turned. "Let's go."

"The jet is waiting for us," the agent said, nodding to her. "We should hurry. There are people closing in on the location."

"Well, sounds like of us is going to have to stay behind, then." She smiled.

He frowned. "I don't think that's necessary. We—"

Her blade through the soft underside of his chin stilled any further thoughts he might have had. Ariel twisted and then jerked the knife out. A bubbling, groaning sound escaped him as he crumbled to the ground. Ariel wiped her knife off on the pants of her uniform and crouched down next to him. "You're gonna stay here and wait for them," she told the body, sheathing her knife. She slipped out three thumb-sized bombs and attached them to his chest, setting the timers. "You'll have a little present for when they show up. How does that sound?"

Ariel rose to her feet with a groan and stretched. "Great." She picked up the cylinder. "Anything you want from Chick-fil-a? No? Great." She walked past his body and back out into the fresh air. She escaped up the wall and hid in the shadows, out of the line of sight of any cameras, as she made her way back towards the quinjet hidden closer to the edge of the city.

The ramp lowered as she approached and she waved to the pilot as she climbed inside. He frowned at her. "Collins?"

"He won't be joining us," she said, shrugging and slouching down into a seat. As she said it, she heard the echoing boom of the explosives she's left behind. Ariel grinned and glanced at the ramp as it closed again. "Let's stop for some food somewhere. What places does Germany have?"

When she looked back at the pilot, he jerked his gaze back around. "Taking off, ma'am."

"Good idea."

* * *

"Loki's gonna drag this out. So, Thor, what's his play?"

Thor seemed to finally register something outside of the screen he was watching and he switched his gaze to Steve. "He has an army called the Chitauri. They're not of Asgard or any world known. He means to lead them against your people. They will win him the Earth." He sighed. "In return, I suspect, for the Tesseract."

"An army," Steve said flatly, glancing side to side as if waiting for someone to tell him that this was all one big joke. "From outer space."

"So he's building another portal," Bruce said, clearly understanding what was being said. "That's what he needs Erik Selvig for."

"Selvig?" Thor straightened.

"He's an astrophysicist."

"He's a friend," Thor corrected.

"Loki has him under some kind of spell." Natasha frowned. "Along with one of ours. I need to know that it can be undone."

"All magic can be undone, to the best of my knowledge," Thor said, frowning. "But this is one of yours? Completely turned against you?"

"My kid," Clint said, arms crossed. "Wouldn't even think of hurting any of us, but then your brother waved his stick at her and she's shooting her friends in the face."

"That is quite the change." Thor shook his head. "I haven't heard of a spell of this type before. I wish I could help further, but there's not much I can say in regards to it."

"Iridium," Bruce cut in. "Hayward stole iridium for him. What does Loki need iridium for?"

"It's a stabilizing agent," Tony announced, stepping inside. He clapped Coulson on the shoulder and murmured, "I'll fly you there. Keep love alive." He cleared his throat and stepped up to the screens. "It means the portal won't collapse on itself, like it did at SHIELD. Selvig knows that, and Hayward knows that too." He nodded to Clint. "Read the notes she left behind. "Smart kid you have there. She practically cracked the code before any of your so called scientists did. Iridium means the portal can stay open and long and as wide as Loki wants."

He turned dramatically in a circle. "Uh, raise the mid-mast, ship the top sails. That man is playing Galaga! Thought we wouldn't notice. But we did." He covered one of his eyes and turned again. "How does Fury do this?"

"I turn," Fury cut in, stepping onto the Bridge.

"Sounds exhausting," Tony sighed. He waved his hands. "The rest of the raw materials, Hayward can get her hands on pretty easily if she knows where to look. Only major component she still needs is a power source. A high energy density, something to kick start the cube."

"And you became an expert on thermonuclear physics when?" Fury asked, crossing his arms.

"Last night." Tony glanced around, raising an eyebrow. "The packet. Selvig and Hayward's notes. The Extraction Theory papers. Am I the only one that did the reading?"

"I've listened to her talk about those notes every day for the past six months," Clint said. "And I still have no idea what she was saying."

Steve shook his head to reorient. "And what? She needs a particular power source to open the portal?"

"He's got to heat the cube to a hundred and twenty million Kelvin just to break through the Coulomb barrier," Bruce said, straightening.

"Unless, Selvig has figured out how to stabilize the quantum tunneling effect," Tony considered.

"Well, if he could do that he could achieve heavy ion fusion at any reactor on the planet."

"Finally! Someone who speaks English!" Tony stepped over to Bruce and shook his hand.

Steve glanced at Clint. "Is that what just happened?"

Clint grinned tiredly. "Man, Ariel's gonna love him when she gets back. Someone will be around to actually understand what she's saying."

"Question," Natasha cut in. "Are we going to be able to locate the Tesseract in time? Hayward has a way of delaying those that stand against her. And with her powers, we're at an even bigger disadvantage. In order to stay one step ahead, we need to take her out of the equation as soon as possible."

"No deadly force," Clint reminded.

Fury nodded. "No deadly force against Hayward. Chances are, you wouldn't succeed anyway."

* * *

"I want to know what you've done to Ariel."

"I'd say I've expanded her mind." Loki smiled widely, looking pleased with himself.

"And when you're done? What happens to her mind then?" Clint asked, crossing his arms.

"Is this concern, Agent Barton? Like a father for his child?" Loki laughed. "I hadn't thought you two to be that close."

"Then you're blind," Clint hissed. "I'm all she has left. No relatives, no blood. Just me."

"I see." Loki's smile grew dangerous. "And if I say I'll spare her? What will you do to get me to vow that?" His hand pressed against the glass.

"I'm not letting you out, if that's what you think is going to happen."

"Oh, no, I like this. Your world in the balance, and yet you bargain for the life of a child. It's truly a fascinating turn of events."

"I've worked for plenty of people in my time," Clint said, shrugging. "The regime itself doesn't really matter to me. Ariel does."

"She's spoken about you. Sometimes, it's hard to tell if she regrets being so gentle when she shot you. I can promise that I regret it. All that attention from someone like her?" His expression darkened. "I'd prefer it not to be split between myself and someone such as you."

Clint snarled. "How _dare_ you—"

Loki slammed a fist against the glass. "She's _mine,_ Barton!" His grin grew into something chilling. "I won't touch her. Not until I make her kill you. Slowly, intimately! In every way she knows you fear! And she'll wake just long enough to see her good work and when she screams _I'll_ be all that remains for her then!"

Clint flinched back. Just a ploy, just a deception, but those words still hurt and by god he was going to tear Loki limb from limb. He let his lips curl back. "You're a monster," he spat.

"Oh, no," Loki said, chuckling and leaning against the glass. "You brought the monster."

Clint stilled, considering the god before him. Then he nodded. "Got it. The Hulk." He put his hands up to his ear and touched the com there. "Tasha, you go that?"

 _"_ _Loud and clear,"_ Natasha told him. _"On my way to Banner now."_

Loki straightened, clearly confused. Then, as Clint turned away, the man smiled. "I see. She gets her cleverness from you."

Clint threw a sharp look at him. "You'll never get her. Not even over my dead body." He stalked from the room.

In his ear, Natasha murmured, _"It's gonna be fine, you know. Kotyonok is hardly one to stay away from us for long."_

"I know."

 _"_ _Catch you in a minute. Fury's yelling at Stark."_

A smirk twitched Clint's lips and he listened distantly to the sound on the other end of the coms. "So I can hear. I'll head that way. Want anything from the mess hall?"

He stopped at the cafeteria and gathered up some pudding cups before heading up towards the lab, listening to the arguing happening on the other end. "You wanted chocolate, right? 'Cause they were outta vanilla."

 _"_ _Oh my god!"_

Before he could even ask who was screaming, the floor and walls shook around him and he stumbled to the side, hitting the wall. He winced and caught himself, dropping the pudding. "Tasha! What's going on!"

 _"_ _We're hit!"_ Coulson's voice came in over the coms. _"Number Three engine is down! Initiating lockdown on the detention section."_ A pause for just a second. _"It looks like Hayward's work."_

 _"_ _Barton!"_ That was Fury. _"Find her. Take care of her. Understood?"_

"Copy." Clint rushed towards the equipment room. "Where'd the attack come from?"

 _"_ _We've got a bogey on our north side."_

"Got it."

* * *

"Hey, Fury. Been busy lately?"

He whipped around and got off several shots. She leaned easily out of the way as if she knew where they would be; of course she did. Ariel gripped the scepter and smiled, raising an eyebrow. "Really? No hello?" She sighed. "You know, I thought we would chat a little, maybe catch up. But you're clearly not feeling up to it, and if I'm being honest, you're in my way. So." She held out her empty hand.

"Barton!" Fury yelled into his earpiece. "Hayward is at the detention center!" The ground trembled under him and he stumbled, getting off a couple more shots.

Ariel sidestepped the bullets and stepped forward on the warping ground. Blue sparked down her skin and skidded across the floor. She snapped up her own gun and squeezed the trigger.

Fury grunted as the bullet caught him in the gut. He kept his gun up, but she flicked her wrist and blue slapped the weapon from his hands. She stepped forward and twisted the collar of his trench coat in her hand. "I expected this to be so much harder," she mused. "But you move so . . . ." She frowned and seemed to think carefully over her possible word choices. Then she nodded. "So slowly."

She pressed the scepter into him and watched his uncovered eye widen. His knees gave way and his entire weight sagged onto the spear. She pushed it in farther. "What a shame," she murmured. Then she stepped back and let his body drop from the scepter. Her gaze flicked to the cage. "Ready to go?"

"It took you long enough, darling," Loki said, smiling.

"Sorry, I stopped for take-out." She stepped over to the panel and unlocked the cage. The doors opened. "Catch." Ariel threw the scepter to him. "Thor is on his way down."

"Excellent." He stepped up to her. "Close the doors again." He waved his hand an a copy of himself appeared within the cage.

"Selvig's at the Tower," she told him, training her gaze on the entryway. "He's waiting for us. Just needs you there to finish opening the portal."

"The machine?"

"Completed."

"Did you have much trouble?"

She threw him an unamused look. "You underestimate me."

"Ah, of course. My apologies. Here he comes." Loki's voice dropped. "Open the doors."

She nodded and drew her attention back to the controls. As the doors to the cage opened again, Thor charged into the room. "No!" he yelled, diving for the Loki in the cage. He tumbled straight through the illusion and Ariel closed the cage.

Loki chuckled. "Are you ever not going to fall for that?"

"He does this a lot?" Ariel asked curiously.

Thor surged to his feet and scowled. "Loki!" he roared. He swung mjölnir up and slammed it against the glass. The glass cracked only slightly but the entire room shook. The cage quaked and Thor stepped back, looking down.

"Not the brightest, is he?" Ariel asked.

Loki shook his head and smoothed a hand against her waist, gently moving her aside. "The humans think us immortal," he said loudly, fingers dancing over the control panel. He looked up at his brother and smiled thinly. "Shall we test that?"

The opening beneath the cage whirred and then pulled apart. Ariel smiled.

"Move away, please."

Ariel glanced to the side to see Coulson standing there, holding a large gun pointed straight at them. She sighed. "Not the time, Phil." She brought up her hand and the gun he was holding exploded in a flash of blue. Coulson flew backward and slammed into the wall. Ariel shook out her hand and wiped at her nose. Her hand came away stained red. She shook her head and nodded to Loki.

Loki pressed the button.

The cage dropped and disappeared, Thor with it.

"Thor, no!"

Ariel brought her gun up and scowled. "Clint."

His gaze flicked between her and Loki. "Ariel, stand down," he warned. "Don't make me do this."

Her head was already pounding, but she focused anyway. The ground beneath Clint's feet sparked blue and began to twist in on itself. "I'm not making you do anything. Jet's here."

Loki nodded and moved to the opening. He jumped onto the quinjet waiting for him and then looked back. "Let's not be late!"

"Of course not." She waved her hand and the floor tore upwards in front of Clint, throwing him back. She headed for the quinjet.

A hand closed around her throat, jerking her back. Ariel choked and fought for purchase.

 **Blink.**

"Let's not be late!"

Ariel whipped around and blocked a hit from Coulson. "Go!" she ordered. "I'll catch up later!" She flipped out her gun.

The quinjet closed and took off with a roar of its engines. Ariel brought up her gun and aimed, only to have something slam into her arm. She stumbled to the side and stared at the cuff arrow that was pinning her to the wall. She scowled and looked over her shoulder at where Clint stood.

 **Blink.**

She flipped out her gun and then hit the ground in a roll. She slammed her gun into the side of Coulson's leg. Her nose ached and she coughed against the blood clogging up her throat. "Get out of the _way,"_ she growled. She fumbled for the remote in her pocket, only to drop it when a hand snapped against her face.

 **Blink.**

She gripped the remote and leaned back from the blow. "Too late," she spat out, pressing the button.

The helicarrier shook and a roar burst through the entire structure. It all lurched sideways. Ariel flicked out a knife and stabbed it into the ground as leverage to keep herself from falling. She dragged herself up and got off a couple shots. She couldn't quite see straight, but she was rewarded with a cry of pain.

"Ariel! Stop this!"

"Out of my way!" she snarled, fighting blindly against the hands touching her. She slammed her knife against something, only to realize what she'd done too late. Without something holding her to the helicarrier anymore, she slipped and gravity took hold. She tried to see through the red, tried to focus, but the pounding in her head was too strong for her to reach backwards. "No, no, no, no!"

Pain exploded in her head and suddenly she just . . . _wasn't_ anymore.


	3. It's a Hard Knock Life For You

Chapter Three - It's a Hard Knock Life For You

 _"_ _What if I get old and ugly? Will you still love me?"_

 _Antônia laughed loudly. "Of course I will, my Lil' Dipper." She peppered kisses along Ariel's neck and dug her fingers into her side until the girl squealed and wriggled away, laughing hysterically. "I will love you when you're old and grey and go back to the stars where you came from."_

 _Ariel gaped up at her, green eyes wide with awe. "I'm from the stars, Mama?"_

 _"_ _Oh, baby, you are the stars."_

* * *

"She's going to drown!" Clint screamed, fighting against the metal arms holding him. "She's going to drown! Go after her!"

"Don't be an idiot," Tony growled through the armor. "I'm getting you to the quinjet."

"Goddammit, Stark! If she dies—"

"I'll get her, okay!" Tony snapped. "Coming in hot!" He dove for the quinjet and landed on the lowered ramp. "Down. You good?"

Clint scrambled back from him, breathing heavily. "Go after her! I swear—"

"Got it." Tony took off. "JARVIS, can you get me eyes on Hayward?"

"There are many lifeforms in the water below," JARVIS responded. "One is, however, giving off a strange energy level. Perhaps this has something to do with Hayward's powers?"

"Put 'er on the map," Tony said, going into a nosedive. A grid system came up in front the helmet, dotted with black figures. One figure lit up red. "There she is."

He hit the water with a splash and resisted the shudder that tempted to curl through his body. The screen in front of him kept lighting up with debris for him to avoid and he swerved from side to side. A scrap of the helicarrier clipped him and sent him spinning. Tony stabilized himself. "J?"

"There she is, Sir."

Tony zeroed in on the flash of red below him and dove down. Ariel was out cold, body limp and blood draining from a gash across her forehead. Tony grunted, dragging at the metal on top of her. It was hard to get purchase. "J, power to repulsors. She's pinned."

"Water pressure levels are growing dangerously high, Sir. And oxygen is dropping."

"Yeah. Gimme a sec here." Tony groaned and the metal finally gave way. Ariel's body drifted lifelessly. Tony gripped her around the midsection. "Alright, let's go." He turned his gaze upward, focusing on the light above them, beyond the mess of twisted metal. He dodged the scrap and then burst through the surface, taking in a breath of air. "Thank god," he mumbled. "Where's the quinjet, buddy?"

"To the east and just above you, Sir."

Tony shot up towards the jet. "Romanoff, coming in," he announced. "Keep the door open for me."

 _"_ _Ramp is down, Stark."_

Tony landed harshly, legs giving out and his suit being the only thing keeping him up. He stumbled up the ramp and Clint was waiting for him. The agent took the girl from his arms and crouched down, laying her out. "JARVIS, vitals," Tony said, kneeling.

"Agent Hayward seems to have only sustained surface injuries for the most part, Sir. My best guess is that she has a concussion as well. I'm still getting those odd energy readings. Her heart rate is low and her lungs seem to be full of water."

"Got it." Tony took off his helmet. Clint already had his hands over Ariel's chest, performing CPR. Tony glanced around at everyone in the quinjet. "Roll call," he said.

"Romanoff, Barton, yourself, and I are conscious. Banner and Thor's locations are unknown," Steve said. "Coulson is down for the count. Fury is dead."

"We should cuff her."

Clint glared up at him but didn't say anything, counting under his breath. He leaned down and pinched Ariel's nose, tilting her head backward. He breathed into her mouth deeply and her chest expanded. He breathed again. Then he returned to compressions.

"Stark is right," Steve said. "We don't know if she'll be back in her own head when she wakes up." He turned and dug through the boxes along the wall. He came up with a set of cuffs. "Cuff her."

Ariel spluttered and water coughed up out of her mouth. Clint tilted her head to the side, letting the water drain. He glanced up and hesitated before taking the cuffs being held out to him. Ariel was struggling with her breathing, eyes flickering beneath their lids. He bound her hands and then nodded to Steve. "Med kit." He took it when the man passed it to him and got to work on treating Ariel's deep head wound.

"So what's Loki's next move, then?" Tony asked, sitting back with a groan. "Any ideas?"

"Power source," Steve said. "That's what you were talking about before."

Ariel groaned loudly and jerked, hands wrenching against her cuffs. Her eyes flickered open and Tony eyed her suspiciously. "Green eyes," he said. "That's good, right?"

"Very good," Clint said, breathing a sigh of relief. "Ariel? You with us?"

She moaned painfully, turning her head sharply and pressing into the floor. "Wh-what?" she rasped.

"Kotyonok?" Natasha called. "Kotyonok, are you with us?"

"N-nat?" Ariel whimpered out. "What—" She opened her eyes only to flinch back and close them hurriedly. Her entire body spasmed. "I can't get him out of my head," she gasped out. "He's— I can't."

"Whoa, hey. Focus on me," Clint said, setting the med kit aside. "Listen to me. Tell me your name."

"I don't— What's going on?"

"Tell me your name."

She stilled, expression twisted into something pained. "A-ariel," she managed. "Ariel Lorraine Hayward."

Tony snickered. "Your middle name is Lorraine?"

She turned her head towards him, but Clint reached out and put a hand on her chin. "Hey, here. Focus on me. Is he still there?"

She seemed to struggle for a minute. And then a whimper escaped her. "He's just _there."_

"Okay, okay. Tell me your age. You've got this."

"I-I'm twenty."

"Holy shit," Tony hissed, snapping up straight. "When you said kid, I didn't realize you meant _kid."_

"Clint," she breathed. "What's going on?"

"Open your eyes," he ordered. "Can you do that?"

Nothing happened for a long moment. Her hands pulled against the cuffs. Her eyes flickered again and hazy green stared up at him. "Clint," she whispered. "How many . . . were on the helicarrier?"

"No." He shook his head frantically. "You don't get to do that to yourself, do you understand?"

Her eyes drifted closed again and she lifted her wrists. "Can you let me out?"

Clint glanced at Steve. When the man gave him a nod, he started working on the cuffs. "How's your head?"

She just gave a strangled groan in response.

"Yeah, that was a nasty hit you took there, kiddo," Tony said. "Question, seeing as good old blitzen was playing shuffleboard in your head and everything," —he ignored the snarl Clint threw at him— "any idea where he's going?"

She stared up at the ceiling. Then Ariel pushed herself up with a painful exhale. She rubbed at her wrists and cut her gaze to him. "Where he's going? I don't . . . ." She frowned. And then her eyes widened and she jerked her gaze towards the cockpit. "Natasha!"

The woman looked back. "Talk to me."

"Stark Tower! Now!" She surged to her feet and lurched forward unsteadily. Steve reached out and caught her. Ariel stared up at him blearily. "Huh," she mumbled. She steadied herself and cut her gaze to Clint. "The chitauri. He's about to open the sky on New York City. Clint, he's about to— Everyone's going to—"

"Whoa, breathe, breathe." He gripped her by the shoulders and steered her to the bench. "Sit. Focus."

Her knees shook as she sat down. Ariel rubbed at her bleeding nose. "Thor," she said. "We dropped him. Where— We dropped him."

"Thor? Please." Clint scoffed. "As if he couldn't survive that. He's going to be fine. Okay? You hear me?"

She stared at him and just nodded obediently.

"Good." Clint glanced to the side. "Captain?"

Steve straightened, taking charge of the situation. "Romanoff, take us to Stark Tower. We have a war to win."

* * *

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine."

"No one will blame you if you sit out."

She scowled and wiped at her bloody nose. "I'm fine."

"If you think you're going to pass out—"

"I'm _fine._ Nat, talk sense into him." Ariel shoved past him for the ramp, fitting her coms unit in her ear. She glanced to the side. "Captain."

"Hayward. Thor is already down there. You ready?"

She brushed off her uniform—it was tattered and worn, but it would have to do—and nodded. "As I'll ever be."

"And you're sure? About the scepter?"

She frowned. "As sure as I can be. It's all still a little hazy, but the scepter should close it. Thor and I can get our hands on it. We'll close the portal, if y'all can keep the chitauri contained."

"Ramp opening!" Natasha announced. "Be careful, Kotyonok!"

"Always am!" Ariel threw back, stepping forward as the ramp lowered. The wind whipped against her face and Ariel sucked in a deep breath. "Keep her steady," she murmured, waiting while the quinjet positioned itself over Stark Tower. She jumped.

The gravel dug through the cuts in her suit and she hissed as she hit the roof in a roll. She let the momentum carry her to her feet. "Landed."

 _"_ _Good,"_ Steve said in her ear. _"We're landing below."_

Ariel turned, eying the machine. "Selvig," she said sharply. "Shut it down."

He whipped towards her, eyes wide and manic. Had she looked like that? Her heart twisted. He smiled widely. "It's too late! They're coming!"

"Where's the scepter?"

"It's too late!" he said again.

She scowled. "Fine, then." She snapped forward and slammed her fist into his face, sending him crashing to the ground. She stared down at his limp body. "Hopefully you'll be yourself when you wake back up." Ariel rubbed her aching shoulder and limped to the edge. She looked down at the balcony below, where Loki and Thor were tussling. She took a deep breath and jumped.

She tackled Loki and sent the two of them to the ground. Her arm curled around his neck and his elbow slammed back into her face.

 **Blink.**

She curled her arm around his neck and ducked her head down to avoid his flailing. "Behave," she hissed. "Let's get him out of your head, okay?"

"Darling," he choked out, fingers scrabbling against her hold. "I was wondering when you'd appear."

"Thor! The scepter!"

"Of course, Lady Hayward!" Thor shouted, snatching up the scepter.

Loki threw his entire weight back against her and her foot caught on the ledge. The floor dropped out and gravity dragged down on her. She heard Thor yelling her name and all she could do was tighten her grip on Loki, reaching back with her powers.

She was interrupted when they hit something hard. Pain spiked in her lower back and Ariel screamed. Loki rolled off of her and crouched low, knife in hand.

She dragged herself up, rasping for air, and reoriented. The chariot shifted below them and Ariel braced herself. Her gaze flicked to the side and she curled her fist against the metal. Blue sparked between them and the metal twisted with a clunk. The chariot jerked and the pilot screeched in alarm. Loki snarled, lips curling, and jumped. He fell from the chariot and was caught by another.

Ariel pressed a hand against her side and leapt off of the unsteady chariot. She hit the ground hard and groaned, rolling onto her back. "Thor has the scepter," she said. "He doesn't know it closes the portal. I'm grounded for the time being."

 _"_ _Hawkeye, communicate that to Thor. Blink, we can use your help down on 9th."_

"Aye, aye, Captain." She dragged herself up to her feet and gave a full body flinch. "I'll be right there."

* * *

"Close it!" she screamed, elbow deep in the leviathan's flesh. "Just close the damn thing already!"

 _"_ _No, wait!"_

"Iron Man, if we don't close this now then the city is going to be completely overrun!" She grunted, gripping what she thought might be the beast's spinal cord as it crashed to the street.

 _"_ _I've got a nuke coming in. It's gonna blow in less than a minute and I know just where to put it."_

Ariel grit her teeth, barely able to keep from biting off her own tongue as the leviathan jerked to a halt against a building. She groaned as she pulled her arms out of the cut in its back with a squelch.

 _"_ _Stark, you know that's a one-way trip."_

Ariel rasped for air, lungs squeezing tightly. Her heart was pounding against her ribs and her head was spinning. Nothing was still.

 _"_ _Come on, Stark."_

Ariel felt herself slipping and struggled for purchase. She couldn't find any and instead felt chitauri blood slicking the pathway to the ground. She hit the asphalt hard and spat up blood.

 _"_ _Close it."_

Ariel fell onto her side, arm curling around her midsection. There were voices in her ear, but she couldn't quite make sense of them. Her entire body shook and her eyes shuttered closed. "Clint," she gasped out. "Natasha."

 _"_ _Kotyonok? Kotyonok, talk to me."_

"I'm . . . I'm down, Nat."

 _"_ _Where? Kotyonok! Where are you?"_

She wanted so badly to answer.

She couldn't.


	4. And They Lived Happily Never After

Chapter Four - And They Lived Happily Never After

 _"_ _You're a cheater, aren't you?"_

 _"_ _No."_

 _"_ _C'mon, you've gotta be a cheater." The girl slammed a piece of paper on the table between them._

 _Ariel wrinkled her nose and pouted down at the tipped applesauce that was spilling out across her tray. "Why'd you do that?"_

 _"_ _Look."_

 _Ariel sighed and dragged her gaze to the paper in front of her. The test itself was familiar, though the penciled handwriting all over it wasn't. At the top of the page, in bright red marker, was the letter 'B.' "Okay. I'm looking. You got a B on the exam. Incredible. And I care why?"_

 _"_ _Because I'm the best student in class. At least I was the best student, until you came along. And while I only managed a B, you got an A and not just any A. An A+. So," —the girl leaned back and crossed her arms— "you cheated. And I'm gonna prove it."_

 _"_ _Right. Have fun with that. What's your name again?"_

 _"_ _Beth."_

 _"_ _Bess?"_

 _The girl scowled. "No, it's Beth, you asshole."_

 _Ariel smiled tightly and help out her hand. "It's nice to meet you, Bessie. I have a feeling you're going to hate me for a long, long time."_

* * *

"He looks dead."

Natasha glanced to the side and put a finger to her lips. "If you wake either of them, so help me."

Tony put up his hands and whispered, "Don't worry. I won't. I value this pretty face of mine far too much."

"Good." Natasha turned back to look past the curtain. "They said she's healing up fine. Doctor Korbin has worked with her before and is familiar with her . . . _unique_ structure. Best as he can tell, the overuse of unfamiliar powers overworked her body. Hyper stress, or something like that."

Tony nodded and followed her gaze. Ariel was out on the bed, her normally coffee skin a deathly shade paler than normal and stark against the white hospital sheets. An oxygen tube was against her nose, pads across her chest and arms, IV in her hand, and monitor on her finger. Her other hand was in Clint's death grip, the man himself asleep in the chair he had pulled up against the bed.

"Where's Steve?" Natasha asked softly.

"Talking with Coulson, since he's the new director. Throwing in some threats, last I saw. Didn't know he had it in 'im."

She cut her gaze to him. "Threats?" She frowned. "What for?"

"The Council wants her gone," Tony said, jerking his thumb at the hospital room. "They lost several hundred agents and a helicarrier to her. Coulson doesn't want her gone anymore than good old Cap does. But he didn't have the leverage to do anything."

"And now?"

"Cap's threatening to have nothing to do with SHIELD if they don't keep the kid on."

"That'll win him points in Clint's book. Ariel was three weeks from graduation to an independent agent. She's been working towards this for four years."

"She's dangerous for a twenty-year-old. And her mind's impressive too. Notes like hers seemed like they should belong to someone with at least three doctorates." Tony seemed to think about it for a second. "Or me when I was her age," he amended.

"She's been repeating entire days for a long, long time," Natasha said, crossing her arms. "She's never shared exactly when she started, but has mentioned several times that it's useful for learning things. I would guess that's gotta add at least a couple years, mentally."

"So twenty-two, twenty-three. Still a kid." Tony shrugged and leaned against the wall. "A damn scary kid. I kinda want to scream and hide from her, kinda want to wrap her up in a blanket and hide her from the world."

"She gets that kind of response from people," Natasha admitted. "You should have seen her at sixteen when I first met her. She was just a ball of angst and snark, topped off with just a little too much smartass for her own good." She leaned her head back and closed her eyes, smiling tiredly. "I guess not much has changed, really."

"Natasha is smiling. I don't really know if that's a good thing or not."

Natasha opened her eyes and pressed a finger to her lips. "Don't wake them," she murmured. She flicked her gaze across Steve to where Thor and Bruce were behind him. "That means quiet."

"Of course," Thor said softly. "I understand the need of my shield-brethren to gather adequate rest in the wake of battle. How fairs the young one?"

"She's okay," Tony said, motioning to them. "Let's go in the hallway."

They shuffled out and Tony closed the door. Steve squared his shoulders. "Natasha, you, Clint, and Ariel are on the SHIELD STRIKE Team with me. She's a Level 6 agent. We head to DC when she's fully recuperated, which Coulson told the Council should take five months minimum, given the extent of her injuries."

"She'll be happy to hear that."

"I hope so. She deserves it. She didn't deserve them trying to push her out like that." Steve rubbed his neck, wincing.

"And _you_ deserve some rest." She glanced across all of them. "You all do. I'll keep an eye on these two idiots while you four idiots rest up at the hotel. I'll let you know when she wakes up."

"Got it. Here." Tony held out a small box. "Stark phone. Better than the stupid android crap you've been using. At least I can depend your call with come through on this one."

Natasha rolled her eyes and took the box. "I've got it, Tony. Go on." She watched as they headed off down the hallway, Tony already spouting about something that had Bruce shaking his head, Steve confused, and Thor bellowing out laughter. Natasha sighed and slipped back into the room. She closed the door tightly and brushed past the curtain.

The steady beep of Ariel's heart monitor was comforting. Natasha smiled at the machine and set the box down on the tray by the window. She crouched down by the chair and slid her hand across Clint's shoulder. "Wake up for me, Zaichik."

He shifted and mumbled something tiredly.

She leaned her head forward against his. "What's that?" she whispered.

"Did you just call me bunny?" he rasped, eyes still closed.

Natasha grinned. "I sure did." She trailed her hand down his arm and sat down carefully on the bed, doing her best not to shift the mattress.

Clint turned his hand and gripped hers, so that he was holding Natasha with one hand and Ariel with the other. "How are you feeling?" he asked quietly. "Your leg?"

"It's okay." She glanced to the side and put a hand on the bed. She moved her hand until she found Ariel's leg and then she curled her fingers around the girl's ankle where it was hidden beneath the blankets. "She's going to be okay," she assured him. "You know that, right?"

"Of course I know that." Despite his words, his expression was still pale and he was staring at Ariel. "We're all gonna be okay."

"We are," she agreed.

He dragged his gaze to her. "I can deal with this. Here with my two favorite girls," —he squeezed their hands— "just ignoring the rest of the world."

She rolled her eyes. "Stop being sappy. It looks bad on you." She yawned and laid down, still clutching his hand and curling around Ariel's legs. "Goodnight, Zaichik. Wake me up when you order in some food."

* * *

She woke to the feeling of blood all over her hands and someone whispering comfort in her ear. She barely managed to open her eyes before she broke down into tears.

"Shh, Kotyonok," a familiar voice soothed. "You're safe here." Fingers grazed against her face. "Listen to me, Kotyonok. It's two in the afternoon, May 6th, 2012. You're at the hospital. Your name is Ariel Hayward and you're safe."

"N-nat," she gasped out, opening her eyes and flinching against the brightness. "The light."

"Clint," Natasha said. After a moment, the light turned off. Warmth pressed against Ariel's cheek. "Are you with us?"

"Yes." Ariel turned her head to the side and found Clint returning to stand beside her bed. She smiled tiredly. "Hey."

"Hey yourself," he said, dragging a hand through his hair.

"You look like shit."

He pouted. "Really? That's what I get for worry about you? After I went through so much trouble bringing you flowers and balloons and teddy bears." As he spoke, he waved a hand at the various things decorating the hospital room. "And that's all you have for me? I'll have you know—"

"Hey," she interrupted, trying to reach for his hand. Her arm wouldn't quite respond and she only managed to turn her palm up. "Thanks."

Clint stared at her. And then he smiled and slid his hand into hers. "Of course, kiddo," he murmured. He sank into the chair by the bed. "I'll have you know that I've been fielding calls from Elizabeth for the past forty hours and she is pissed with you and with me."

"I wouldn't expect anything else from her." Ariel looked to the other side to find Natasha curled up on the bed beside her. "Are you supposed to be sharing my hospital bed?"

"Hmm? Do you really think they could stop me?" the redhead asked, brushing her thumb up and down Ariel's arm.

"I guess not," Ariel rasped out. "I'm . . . hungry."

"I would hope so. Don't worry." Natasha held up a phone and shook it. "I already let them know that you were waking up a while ago. Stark and the others should be here any minute now with enough food to feed an army."

Ariel tensed and the action sent pain shooting through her aching muscles. "Stark and the others?" she asked tentatively.

The door burst open. "Lady Ariel, you have awoken! We come bearing sustenance and more gifts to brighten this dismal room!"

"Th—" Ariel's eyes widened. "Thor," she gasped out. "Hi," she squeaked.

"Thor, bring the volume down," Natasha warned, still half-curled around the younger woman. "Bring that food over here."

Steve was the one that moved forward. He moved the hanging tray so that it was positioned over the bed and he started unpacking the food on it. "Clint assured us you like Chipotle," he said, setting out the chicken and rice bowl. "So I hope this works."

"It's fine," Ariel murmured, pushing herself up. "Thank you." She picked the fork up with a shaking hand.

"How are you feeling?" he asked carefully.

"I'm okay," she mumbled, poking at her food. "Thank you."

"I brought candy," Tony announced loudly, putting a full paper bag and a pastry box on the windowsill. "And éclairs for everyone! Also, this stuffed unicorn that was at the store down the street. I thought it was cute." He tossed the pink animal to her.

Ariel caught it and stared at the unicorn. "Oh. Thank you. You didn't have to do any of this."

"Ridiculous. I would do this for any of my teammates if the idiots ended up in the hospital. And I would expect you to extend the same courtesy to me."

Her gaze jerked up to him. "Teammates?" she rasped out. And then she ducked her head and focused instead on eating. "Thank you," she said yet again.

"Miss?"

The soft voice made her look up and she focused in on the man standing at the end of her bed. She sniffed and set down her fork before folding her hands in her lap. "Yes, Doctor Banner?"

He smiled tiredly, fiddling with his glasses. "You've seen me at my worst. I'm sure we're past formalities at this point. Just Bruce is fine."

She managed a smile. "Okay. Thank you, Bruce."

"Your notes regarding the Tesseract were incredible. Your abilities were invaluable during the fight. I'm proud to call you a fellow Avenger, Miss Hayward."

She stared at him. Then she ducked her head again. "Just Ariel works," she murmured. "Thank you."

"You're starting to sound like a broken record there, kid," Tony warned. "I say you should stop thanking us and just eat your food." He motioned to her. "Go ahead. Eat up while we talk."

Obediently, she dug into her food.

"Avengers Tower should be fixed up enough for people to move in within two weeks, though it will take another month after at least for repairs to be completed. I'll sit down with each of you to go over what you want in your rooms," Tony said, whipping out his phone and tapping away at it. "And I'll take down details on your uniforms and weapons: what's working, what isn't, what needs to be improved, and so on. Also, Pepper already pointed out to me that if we want to stay in the public's good eye, then we need to stay out ahead of everything. So I'm already arranging a few events for good Avengers publicity."

"I'm sorry," Ariel cut in, glancing around nervously. "Do you . . . want to talk about this when I'm not here?" she asked cautiously. "I feel like I shouldn't be a part of this discussion."

"Nonsense. You're a part of the team."

She hesitated, but anything she might have said was stopped by Steve. "You're an Avenger. If anyone wants to change that then they'll have to go through the rest of us," he said confidently.

Ariel stared up at him and then swallowed thickly. "Oh. Okay." She nodded. "Thank you." When Tony snickered, she glanced at him. "And that's the last time I'm saying that today," she assured him. Then she pointed at the phone he was holding and then at the one Natasha was still clutching. "Do I get one of those? I want one of those."

Tony laughed. "I'll see what I can do, kiddo."

* * *

"I'm sorry," she gasped out, surging into wakefulness. She collapsed back against the bed and shattered into sobs. "No, no, no. I didn't want to," she whimpered.

"Whoa, Ariel, it's okay." Something gripped her wrists, pulling her hands away from where she'd been scratching at her head. "Listen to me."

"I'm sorry," she cried. "I'm so, so sorry."

"Ariel, focus on my voice!"

"Listen to us, Kotyonok," a second voice soothed. "You're safe here. You're safe. Your mind is your own. You're here with me and Clint and we're going to keep you safe."

"Fury," Ariel choked out. "I—"

"Shh, that wasn't you, Kotyonok."

"Listen to us, Ariel. It's okay. Just listen to our voices."

She focused on the feeling of a hand against her face, leaning into it. "Clint," she whispered. "I'm sorry. He got to you and I— No. I couldn't let him keep you," she sobbed out. "And I blinked and he got me instead and I just made it so much _worse."_ She fumbled until she felt familiar strong arms and she clung to him. "I'm sorry."

"Wha— You— That's okay, kiddo. It's fine. You did your best. That's all we ever want from you." Those arms curled around her and Clint pulled her firmly to his chest. "You're safe here, Ariel."

She curled into him and gave in to her sobs. A hand smoothed across her back and she could hear gentle, familiar Russian whispers behind her. Ariel sank fully into her repeated apologies.

Someone pressed a kiss to her forehead—she wasn't sure if it was Clint or Natasha—and then another kiss to her hair. Both of them were muttering assurances that she was okay, that she had nothing to apologize for. Someone was combing through her hair. Someone was holding her hands.

Finally, Ariel settled into silence. The person holding her was gently rocking her to the beat of her own heart monitor. Another person was rubbing circles on her back.

"Are you back with us?" Natasha whispered.

Ariel nodded. "Yeah," she mumbled. "Yeah, I'm back. Thank you."

"Good job, Kotyonok."

"Love you, kiddo," Clint said against her ear. "You scared me there."

"Sorry," she gasped out.

"Yeah, yeah, you keep saying that."

She reached up and pressed her fingers against her ear. "I miss my beeper," she mumbled.

"Beeper. Got it. I'll talk to Stark about that. We'll get you a new one ASAP." Clint pulled back just enough to be able to look down at her properly. He brushed his thumb against her cheeks. "It wasn't your fault. You know that, right?"

"Logically," she conceded. "Logically, I know that."

Clint sighed, but then Natasha murmured, "That's good enough for now. Do you think you can sleep some more?"

Ariel shifted for a moment, feeling the way she was wedged between the two of them on the hospital bed. Cramped, but comfortable. Safe. She shook her head. "No." She closed her eyes and thought for a moment. "I want to talk to Bessie," she mumbled.

"Got it." Clint rolled over just a bit and then returned with a phone. "It's three in the morning, but she's been waiting for your call. Warning: she's been pretty yelly."

"Yelly isn't a word, Clint," Natasha murmured, tucking her face into the crook of Ariel's neck. "Just call her."

Ariel's fingers shook and she had to backspace several times when she hit the wrong numbers. But then she hit call and pressed the phone up against her ear.

It rung only twice before the call was answered.

 _"_ _Ariel Lorraine Hayward, you better have a goddamn amazing explanation for this."_

"Hi, Bessie," Ariel said, smiling. "How'd you know it was me? I'm calling from Clint's phone."

 _"_ _I've been saying the exact same thing anytime anyone has called me for the past two days. I never know with you."_

"Touché." Ariel shifted with a grunt of pain so that she was laying more on her back. Natasha made a noise of complaint.

 _"_ _Oh my god, are you in bed with someone? Did you actually get laid?"_

"Ew, gross. It's Nat and Clint." Ariel pulled the phone away from her ear a bit. "Say hi, guys."

"Hi, Elizabeth."

"Morning, Zmey."

 _"_ _Hi, Natasha! Fuck you, Clint."_

Clint pouted. "She's always so mean to me," he whined.

Ariel laughed and brought the phone back to her ear. "So, just to clarify, which of the six billion stupid things I did are you upset with me for?"

 _"_ _Two of them, actually."_

"Really? Just two?"

 _"_ _Oh, it might be just two things, but I can promise you that I won't stop yelling at you about them for several years. First off, why the fuck did you think it was a good idea not to tell me you had superpowers?"_

"Bess—"

 _"_ _No, I deserve this, okay? I've spent literally years trying to figure out how the hell your skinny ass managed even half the shit you did. As it turns out, you had some punk ass Superman-level deus ex machina crap helping you out and you didn't even bother to mention it. What's next? Your space dad gonna come down from the stars? Take you back home to Krypton?"_

Ariel could feel Clint shaking with laughter and she made her expression as pathetic as she could, knowing full well that he could see it. "I don't have a space dad," she said dryly. "And if I'm being honest—"

 _"_ _Oh, we're being honest now?"_

"—I couldn't even do ninety percent of that until I got mind controlled by an ancient norse god. So I'm still pretty confused too."

 _"_ _Baby, you're always confused."_

"I am _not_ always— Stop laughing at me!"

 _"_ _Sorry, I just—"_ Beth stopped to gasp for air. _"Actually, I'm not sorry, you punk. You deserve every bit of this laughter."_

"Well what was I supposed to say?" Ariel protested. "'Hi, friend-o, I'm actually able to time travel and I've been getting those crazy good grades because I can double and triple up my study and tutoring time!' Yeah, that would have gone over well."

 _"_ _You— That's how you did it?"_ Beth shrieked.

"Listen, you would have thought I was crazy."

 _"_ _I always thought you were crazy, Ari."_

Ariel pressed her lips together and curled her free hand into a shaking fist, trying to fight her ever present headache. Natasha slid her fingers around her wrist and mumbled something Russian into her shoulder. That helped her take a breath and refocus. "Okay, so that's the first thing you wanted to yell at me for. What's the other thing?"

 _"_ _Other thing."_ Beth seemed to be thinking for a moment. _"Let's see, what could that other thing possibly be. Oh, right, it couldn't possibly be the fact that you, I don't know, fought aliens. From outer space. And then didn't call me for two days."_

"Bess—"

 _"_ _I saw you on the news, Ari."_ Beth's voice was cracking now. _"When they found you in the aftermath. You were practically just a body. You were bleeding and broken and, god, Ari, I thought I'd lost you."_

The shattered tone to her voice made Ariel closed her eyes tightly and press her lips together. "I'm sorry," she rasped. "I'd say I won't do it again, but . . . . Well."

 _"_ _Yeah, I know,"_ Beth whispered. _"Just like Beijing, right? You do crazy shit and make me think that you've died or worse and I just have to suck it up and deal with it."_

"Yeah. Just like Beijing."

Beth sighed heavily and neither of them said anything for a long time. Then the woman on the other end of the line said, _"Hey, I still get everything in your will, right?"_

Ariel laughed, and it was totally worth the way her ribs painfully threatened to cave. "Yes, you get everything, Bessie."

 _"_ _Even DJ Roomba?"_

"Even DJ Roomba."

 _"_ _Fucking nice. I love DJ Roomba. Your pitiful little apartment is way too small for him. I'm telling you, he'll be so much happier at my place."_

Ariel grinned. "I'm moving into Stark Tower. I won't be in a 'pitiful little apartment' for much longer."

 _"_ _No. Way. I'll need daily updates and VIP passes to every floor of the Tower. And bonus points if you can get me any pics of Iron Man shirtless."_

"Gross!" Clint shouted into the phone. "You're disgusting, Moore!"

 _"_ _Oh, shut up, Barton. I've seen enough pics of you shirtless from Ariel's gratuitous workout selfies. And trust me, no one wants to see that."_

"I want to see that," Natasha mused.

"Oh my _god,"_ Ariel choked out. "Nat!"

 _"_ _Ew!"_ Beth squealed. _"Ew! No! I don't like that! That's it, I'm done here. Natasha, Barton, take good care of my idiot, will you?"_ And then she hung up.

Ariel lowered the phone and pouted at it. "I'm not an idiot," she mumbled.

"Oh, Kotyonok," Natasha cooed, pulling her into a tight hug. "You are _the_ idiot."


	5. Six Feet Under, Ice Cold

Chapter Five - Six Feet Under, Ice Cold

 _She wasn't sure if she'd been there for weeks or for years. The fact that she was always in the same spot, bound and chained in that tiny room, no matter how far back she blinked didn't help. There was no discernible pattern to when they fed her. No pattern to when they'd give her water. No pattern to when they'd come in and experiment with their different methods of torture while screaming questions and demands at her. No pattern to how long they'd hold her in the dark, with nothing but the ants crawling over her bare feet for companionship._

* * *

"It's wrong for me to be here."

"Don't say that. If you keep saying that, I'll sic Rogers and his goddamn sad puppy eyes on you, you understand? And _that_ will give you something to feel guilty about. Okay?"

Ariel looked up at him and met his stare confidently for a long moment. But then she gave up and looked away. "Yeah, okay," she mumbled.

"Good." Clint nodded and pushed her wheelchair up the ramp. "I'm glad you decided to see sense."

Natasha looked amused as they reached her at the doorway. "About time you made it."

"Yeah, well, our resident drama queen was throwing a fit."

"Throwing a—" Ariel looked up in indignation. _"You_ lost the _wheelchair."_

Natasha raised an eyebrow. "Clint lost the wheelchair?"

"Lies," Clint hissed. "All lies. Don't listen to her. She's still high on narcotics from the doctor. How's it look inside?"

"It's pretty full, though the church is small so it's actually not that many people. We're up front with the rest of the Avengers." Natasha frowned and glanced at Ariel when her words made the girl flinch. "Closed casket."

"Oh, thank god," Ariel breathed out, closing her eyes. "I don't think . . . I don't think I could see him again."

"You won't have to." Natasha leaned down and kissed her forehead. "Go on inside and get settled. I have to wait out here for Thor." She stepped back and pulled open the door for them.

Ariel dropped her hands down to the wheels only to jerk them back up a moment later when Clint pushed her forward and the tires grated against her skin. She wanted to snap something at him, but the fact that the church was already mostly full of people made her stop in her tracks. She kept her head down as Clint pushed her down the aisle to the front and then pulled her into the empty spot between the front row and the wall.

"Hey, kiddo. How you feeling today?" Tony asked, not looking up from where he was tapping away at his phone.

"Oh, just great," she said dryly, careful to keep her voice quiet. "Never felt better. What happened to you? You look terrible."

"Ouch. Barton, you sure she didn't hurt her eyes in the fight?"

"Believe me, her eyes are working just fine." Clint dropped down into his seat. "And she's right. You look like crap."

"Well, unlike some people who have gotten to relax in the hospital for the past few days, I've been busy." He finished up on his phone and tucked it away. "Besides, I always look amazing."

"As if."

"You'll learn."

"My friends. Although it is a delight to see you again, I extend my most sincere condolences for the tragedy that has brought us together."

Ariel looked up and smiled. "Good morning, Thor. You look nice in a suit."

"Ah." He looked down at what he was wearing. "The Son of Coul assured me that this was appropriate attire for a Midgardian funeral, as I'm not accustomed to your traditions here."

"You look great, bud," Tony said, motioning to him. "Sit down."

Thor nodded and took a seat between Tony and Steve. "On Asgard, we light our deceased loved ones on fire and send them past the water into space, where they join the stars. It's a belief among my people that the smoke from the fire helps carry them to Valhalla."

"Valhalla?" Ariel asked curiously. "Sorry, I looked up a few Norse things after New Mexico, but I gave up when I realized that I couldn't be sure what was real and what was fantasy."

Thor turned a broad smile to her. "I would be delighted to regale you with tales of my culture, young one."

"Another time," Steve murmured across them. "Shh."

Ariel nodded and sat back, dragging her gaze towards the front as the organist began playing. She sat through the ceremony in a haze, all too familiar with the processes of a funeral. While people spoke, she kept her head down and just listened while she wished—not for the first time—that her abilities would let her skip forward through time as well.

It wasn't until she felt a hand on her shoulder that she fully realized it was over. Ariel blinked and then croaked out, "Sorry."

Bruce smiled softly, drawing his hand back. "It's alright. The others thought you might need some space, but I recognized that look."

"That . . . look?"

"The one where you're lost in your own head. Where it might be dangerous if someone doesn't pull you out." He straightened from his crouch with a groan and his back popped loudly. "Was I wrong?"

She shook her head and managed a smile. "No. You weren't wrong." Then she glanced around and cleared her throat, studying the mostly empty room. There were only a few people left, huddled in groups as they spoke. "The others are outside?"

Bruce nodded. "I think Tony and Clint were arguing about whether we should get gelato or ice cream."

"Of course. Um, just give me a second. I'll be right there." She nodded to him and then watched as he walked away. Ariel undid the lock on her wheelchair and wheeled up towards the closed coffin at the front of the church. "Sorry," she said, voice breaking. "I'd undo it if I could. If I—" She reached out and pressed a hand against the wood. "I'm sorry, Director."

"Hayward, right?"

She jerked her hand back and looked up in surprise. "Sorry?" And then she recognized the person standing next to her. "Secretary Pierce! I, uh, I'd stand, but—"

"Don't worry," he said, smiling. He held out his hand. "I'll settle for a shake instead, if that's alright with you."

She cleared her throat and shook his hand firmly. Then she reoriented. "Yes, it's Hayward. Ariel Hayward."

"He was proud of you, you know." Pierce turned to face the casket, folding his hands behind his back. "I've only seen him a couple times in the past few years, but your name always came up. Nick always believed you'd make it far in SHIELD."

She nodded once. "I hope I live up to his expectations."

"After your performance this past week, I have no doubt you will. We're lucky to have you in the organization, Ariel. And I agree with Coulson when I say I believe you're going to do great, amazing things."

Ariel caught a breath and gaped up at him. "That's . . . . Of course, sir. I'll do my best."

"I don't expect any less." He clapped a hand on her shoulder, gently. "Keep in touch, Hayward." He turned and walked away, leaving her staring at the coffin alone.

Ariel licked her lips and took a deep breath. She nodded to herself and then reached down to the wheels. "Alright, then. Let's do this." She turned the chair around and wheeled herself from the church, nodding gratefully to the funeral attendee that fumbled to open the door for her.

"About time! Custard or gelato?"

Ariel blinked at Tony and came to a stop next to them. "I thought it was between gelato and ice cream."

"Yeah, well, turns out that good ole Capsicle here has had neither gelato or custard, so that eliminated one option and added another. You're the deciding vote. Steve's not informed enough to decide and Clint is abstaining because he's upset we're not getting ice cream—"

"It's the principle of the thing!"

"—so you get to choose for all of us."

"Oh. Uh." Ariel glanced across them and then shrugged. "Gelato. I know a great little place not far from here. You're paying, right, Stark?"

"Ugh. I guess so. C'mon, Wheels, don't slow us down."

* * *

"Is the technology hard?"

"A bit, at first," Steve admitted, glancing at her for just a moment before turning his stare back to where Tony and Clint together were armwrestling Thor while both Bruce and Natasha provided less-than-encouraging commentary. "But I think I've gotten the handle of it, mostly. No, it's the people that are the hard part."

Ariel smiled sadly and rubbed her bare arms. "Are we really that bad?"

"No." He frowned and started shrugging off his suit jacket. "Are you cold?"

"A little," she conceded. "Doctor Korbin said my body is going to have trouble self-regulating temperature while I heal, and all that gelato probably didn't help."

Steve draped his jacket around her shoulders and nodded when she mumbled her thanks. He dragged his fingers through his hair. "It's not the people themselves, really. It's just that I don't know them. Or that everyone I _did_ know is, well . . . ."

"Dead." She winced. "Yeah. I can't really imagine that." She glanced at Clint, who was now trying to convince Tony to call the suit to help them out. "It's gotta be terrible. I know saying that doesn't mean much."

"No, it's fine," he assured her. "And at least you're not trying to awkwardly apologize and pretend you understand like most people do. Sometimes, what's best is just for someone to acknowledge it. That's all I really need." Steve followed her gaze. "You're close, huh?"

She glanced at him and shrugged. "Yeah, I guess." Then she dropped her stare to her hands. "He's, uh, like a dad, I guess. _My_ dad—the one that adopted me—died when I was eight. My aunt raised me after that, so until Clint I didn't have . . . . You know."

Steve nodded but didn't say anything else, content with the silence. Until . . . .

"Lady Ariel, your father is quiet the man of boasts!" Thor boomed out. "I see where you received your confidence from! Though I will admit, I am still searching for the source of your wit."

"Goddammit, Thor!" Clint yelled. "Why you gotta be like that, man?"

Ariel laughed, grinning. "So, does Thor actually think Clint's my real dad?"

Steve thought about it for a second. "Probably," he admitted.

"Right. Well, I'll be milking that for all it's worth for the next five billion years." She tapped her fingers on the armrest of her wheelchair in thought. Then she undid her break and slipped off his jacket. "I'll catch up with y'all at the hotel."

He frowned. "Where are you going?"

"Down to SHIELD."

He took his jacket but made no move to put it back on. Instead, he just cocked an eyebrow at her. "Why?"

Ariel met his gaze firmly and, with conviction, said, "I'm going to speak with Loki."

He didn't say anything immediately in response, just seeming to consider her. Then he nodded and draped his jacket back around her shoulders. "Alright. I'll go with you."

Her gaze narrowed. "You're not going to stop me?"

"Should I?"

"Probably. The others would."

He shrugged and took ahold of the handles of her chair, turning her around. Then he started pushing her down the street. "They probably would, yeah. But if you want to talk to him, then I think you deserve that. Which way?"

"Left up at the light. It's just three buildings down. Can't miss it. And thanks."

"Of course."

Ariel tapped her fingers nervously on the chair, nodding to the security guard that let them into the building. She directed Steve down to the detention center and lit up when they approached the three people speaking in the hallway. One of them looked up and blinked. "Hayward?" Coulson motioned the two agents he'd been talking to away and turned to them. "What are you doing here?"

"I want to talk to Loki."

He stared at her. Then he sighed and lowered his clipboard. "Ariel—"

"I know what you're going to say, but—"

"Okay."

She stopped short. "I— Okay? What do you mean okay?"

"I mean okay. I won't ask questions. You get five minutes." He turned and motioned to them. Steve pushed the chair after him and Phil kept talking about the security measures—don't touch the glass, stay away from the panel, the conversation was monitored, and so on. Finally, they stopped in front of a triple locked door and Clint swiped his ID. "Five minutes," he reminded her.

She nodded and waved Steve off, gripping the wheels. "Alright. Thank you."

The door opened and Ariel wheeled herself in. The door closed loudly behind her. She moved up to sit in front of the thick glass keeping her separate from the shackled Asgardian on the other side. His gaze flicked darkly to her but he didn't say anything. Ariel locked the wheelchair and took a deep breath.

The silence was . . . comforting, actually. She was tempted to let it continue. To let it stretch out.

But she had five minutes.

"Loki," she finally said by way of greeting. "You look terrible."

"Flattering," he said in response, his voice dry and rasping. "I'm sure you've looked better also."

"It's not your fault."

Something indiscernible flickered across his expression and he narrowed his eyes at her.

Ariel smiled. "It's not, is it? I wasn't the only one getting my head played with, was I?"

His features hardened into a glare. "You mortals are all the same. You throw around ideas, wild accusations, with the hope that you'll stumble upon some great truth that will inflate your own self-importance. You dodder around in these short lives, just searching for something to make yourself great, only to find it just _minutes_ before—"

"Shut up." Ariel sighed and rubbed her forehead. "I'm not an idiot and you know that. You saw that. And you're smart too. You could have won, easily, if you had done some things differently. You were fighting too. You were finding loopholes and mistakes in the control and—"

"You don't know what you're talking about."

"I know exactly what I'm talking about."

"Your simple mind just can't grasp the enormity of what happened to you, can it?"

"My 'simple mind' can understand what happened just fine. I think you're just—" She paused. "I'm not sure. You won't admit it and I don't know why. You want the infamy? The glamor? Or—" She cut herself off. Ariel leaned forward and studied him. "Oh my god."

"What?" he snapped out.

"You're scared," she breathed. "You're scared, aren't you?"

He didn't answer.

"You are." She leaned back with a slight scoff. "I don't know how I didn't see it before. Who was it, then? Who was it that was in your head? In my head? Who are you scared of?"

No answer.

"Give me a name."

The door opened. "Time's up, Hayward."

Ariel kept Loki's gaze for a long moment. Then she cleared her throat. "Okay." She undid the break. "See you around." She turned and wheeled herself towards the door.

"Farewell."

Ariel paused and glanced back, but Loki was glaring at the wall of his cell like he'd never spoken. She huffed. "Right."

Steve took the handles of her chair and pushed her back into the hallway. "Clint called," he murmured. "He's upset that I let you do this."

"You didn't _let_ me do anything," she muttered. "I'm not a child."

"Well," Phil said, seeming to think about it as he reengaged all the security on the door. "That's debatable."

Ariel cut her gaze to him. "I'm twenty-one."

"Almost twenty-one," he corrected.

"Close enough."

"Ehhh, not quite. Three months isn't really 'close enough.' Nice try, though."

"Alright," Steve said, heading the argument off. "The others are waiting back at the hotel. Clint said something about a pizza party?"

Ariel lit up. "A pizza party? Have you ever been to a pizza party, Steve?"

"I can't say I have," he said, sounding amused.

"Well, you are in for a treat. Let's go!"

* * *

"Can't sleep, Kotyonok?" Natasha whispered.

"No." Ariel rolled over and stared at the hotel alarm clock on the nightstand. Seven past one. "Clint?"

"Out cold. Come join us."

Ariel didn't respond immediately. But then she nodded and sat up, shuffling to the edge of the bed. She dragged herself to her feet and hopped awkwardly across the distance between the two large beds on one foot. She half-flopped onto the bed and then wriggled under the blankets Natasha was holding up for her. "Thank you," she mumbled.

Clint made a sleepy noise of protest as Ariel pushed her way between him and the woman he was holding. "Wha' goin' on," he mumbled.

"Shh, go back to sleep," Natasha urged softly. She rested her hand on Ariel's stomach and said, "It's just Ariel, Clint."

"Oh," he said blearily. He shifted and buried his face in Ariel's hair. "Okay."

Natasha slipped easily into Russian and murmured, "Поговори со мной."

Ariel responded in Portuguese by default. "Minha cabeça está tão alta," she sobbed.

"Я знаю. Мне жаль." Natasha cradled her to her chest. "Все будет хорошо."

* * *

 **Translations (made using Google Translate, so I know they're not 100% accurate):**

 **Поговори со мной. — Talk to me.**

 **Minha cabeça está tão alta. — My head is so loud.**

 **Я знаю. Мне жаль. — I know. I'm sorry.**

 **Все будет хорошо. — It'll be okay.**


	6. Break a Leg, and an Arm

Chapter Six - Break a Leg, and an Arm, and a Collarbone

 _"_ _Mama, Isaac brought me flowers!" Ariel scrambled across the living room, giggling, and then thrust the bouquet at her mother. "Looky!"_

 _"_ _Oh, they're beautiful, meu docinho de côco." Antônia finished putting in her earrings and then dropped to her knees. She gave her daughter a wide, beaming smile. "What do you say?"_

 _Ariel turned to the man standing in the hall and grinned. "Obrigado, Isaac!"_

 _"_ _Oh, I'm so glad you like them, Miss De Costa," he said formally, though his own lips were twisting into a smile. "Do you have a vase I could put them in?"_

 _Antônia hesitated, rising to her feet. "We don't."_

 _"_ _That's okay. I'll use a glass!" With that said, Ariel escaped into the apartment's kitchen. Isaac followed her and found her trying to climb onto the counter._

 _"_ _Whoa, careful, there. Let me." He opened the cabinet and got out a glass. Then he moved to the sink to fill it up. "I'll get you a vase," he promised."_

 _Antônia blinked. "Oh, no, you don't have to—"_

 _"_ _I'd love to. Flowers?" He took the bouquet Ariel passed up to him and put them in the glass. Then he set it on the counter. "There. How's that look?" he asked, crouching down next to her._

 _Ariel gaped up at the flowers. "They're beautiful," she breathed. "I love 'em."_

* * *

"So basically, if I say the wrong thing then all of America is going to hate me forever, I'll get death threats, and the Avengers will be shut down."

"Oh, relax," Clint said, rolling his eyes. "You're so dramatic."

"I am _not,"_ she protested, leaving heavily on her good leg as she followed him into the building. "You're the one that keeps stressing that I not freak out. And I'm not going to freak out. What's there to freak out about? I'm just gonna have to sit there in front of the entire world and answer questions that random idiots throw at me. There's absolutely nothing to—"

"Ouch, looks like someone's freaking out."

Ariel glared. "I am _not_ freaking out, Tony."

He grinned and held the door open to the green room. "Come on in. I recruited Pepper to help out and make everyone look less like they're homeless and more like actual superheroes."

"Pepper?" Ariel asked, limping in.

"That's me." The ginger turned towards her and smiled. "Ah, I see you got the clothes I had delivered."

Ariel glanced down at what she was wearing—a black pencil skirt, pastel pink blouse, and one black flat to compliment the massive boot her foot was cast in—and blinked. "Huh. I was wondering where these came from."

"Come sit down," Pepper said, waving to her. "I'll do up your hair and makeup."

Ariel stared at her for a long moment. Then she limped forward and sat down. Pepper turned the chair so she was looking into the mirror and then pulled her hair back into a ponytail. "As the youngest, you're both in a great place and a hard one," Pepper said as she worked. She picked up a brush and carefully began masking the bruises still staining Ariel's face. "You're a target for the press. They'll think you're naive and easy to manipulate. But if you can stand up against that—"

"I can."

"—then that leaves you with the good parts of being the youngest."

"Which are?"

"Close your eyes." Pepper began powdering her face. "You come across as innocent. A prodigy. Intelligent for you age. Easy for the public to relate to, to fall in love with. So we're going to play on that. Hence the pretty pink."

"So basically, I'm Barbie in her younger years," Ariel said dryly. "Brilliant. I love it."

Pepper hummed in response, picking up the blush. "Tony has expressed some concerns about your wardrobe."

"My . . . wardrobe?" Ariel looked down at her clothing, only to straighten again when Pepper cleared her throat. "I thought you chose this."

"He means your general wardrobe. Something about you only owning jeans and two t-shirts? I think he's worried that your closet at the Tower will be mostly empty."

"Ah. Well, I've really only mostly been at SHIELD and on missions, so I've never had a need for lots of clothes."

"That makes sense. He shared some similar concerns about Natasha. So this weekend, the three of us are going for a girls' day. And I'm taking you both shopping."

"Oh, I don't—"

"We're using Tony's card."

"Oh." Ariel looked up at the woman. Then she grinned. "Okay, I'm down, then."

"Great. And the more the merrier, so if you happen to know any other girls that could use a shopping spree—and that you think actually can put up with Natasha's shopping habits—then let them know. Look up." Pepper leaned down and uncapped the mascara wand. "Keep your answers simple. Don't say anything you don't want to say. If you don't want to answer a question, redirect the conversation. Got it?"

"Got it."

"Great. Let's do your hair." Pepper pulled out her ponytail and started combing through her hair. "Straight or curled?"

"Um—"

"Curled will look cute. Let me grab the wand."

"Capsicle! About time you made it!"

Ariel glanced towards the door where Steve was standing, fixing the collar of his suit jacket. "Sorry," he mumbled. "I went to the wrong building."

"You went to the wrong building," Tony repeated flatly, staring at him. "Of course you did. Just— Right. Run a comb through your hair and have Bruce throw some powder on your face. We're on in ten."

Pepper finished with Ariel's hair so that it curled around her face. She stepped back and smiled. "There. You're ready."

"And not a second too soon," Tony said. "Let's go. We're live in thirty seconds." He waved them out the door and down the hall.

Ariel stumbled to her feet and followed after them. A hand touched her elbow and she glanced to the side. Thor smiled, offering her his arm. "If I could help, Lady Ariel?"

She smiled. "That'd be great. Thanks, Thor." She let him wrap his right arm around her and grip her left hand with his own. When they moved forward, he was taking on most of her weight and it was almost like she wasn't so much walking as she was floating. Tony led them down the hallway and then opened a door. Immediately, she could hear the bustle of voices.

When they followed Tony up to the tables set up on the stage, Ariel caught her breath. She stopped short, staring out at the crowded room of reporters and cameras. Thor tugged gently on her arm until she was moving again. They stepped up to the table and he pulled out a chair. She smiled as he released her. "Thanks." She sat down and cleared her throat, only to wince when the mic in front of her gave loud feedback for that.

Silence fell upon the room. Then Tony leaned into his mic. "Alright, then. Let's get this started. Avengers' press conference, Q and A. Take one. First question!"

Hands went up all around the room. Tony considered them for a moment before pointing at someone in the front. "Yeah, Ben?"

"I have a question for the Captain." The reporter looked down at his notes. "Sir, in the past few days the Avengers have released official statements about their identities, but none were quite as shocking as your own. Could you share with us what it was like to return to the world sixty-six years after going down in the Valkyrie?"

Steve cleared his throat. "Well, it was a change, obviously. I'm sure all of us here have experienced, or at least observed, a certain level of culture shock in our lives. It was like that for me. While this is still America, it's not the one I grew up in, so it's taken some adjusting. In the end, though, this is still my country and I wouldn't trade it for the world."

Ariel glanced towards the side where she could see Pepper standing. The woman looked impressed with Steve's answer. It was obviously that, despite having taken seventy years off, Steve's public relations skills were still sharp. Tony had his own self-explanatory experience, and Ariel had a sneaking suspicion that Thor must have done some diplomatic missions as the prince of Asgard since his own skills were good. The three of them were the focus of most of the questions.

Natasha was only asked one question, and even though her answer was normal enough, something about the Russian's tone was enough to scare anyone else off. After Clint derailed into his fifth knock knock joke, the reporters decided to direct more of the questions to Bruce instead. But upon discovering that Bruce often mumbled too quietly for anyone to understand, they turned their attention to Ariel.

And she did not disappoint.

"Yeah, I did," she said. "Sixteen. I was actually approached by Phil Coulson—the new SHIELD director—after my graduation ceremony. I spent the next four years apprenticed to Agent Barton." She nodded to where Clint sat farther down the table.

The reporter that had asked nodded. "And now? You're twenty-one?"

"Oh, twenty, actually. I'll be twenty-one in August. Last birthday before I'm old!" That got a laugh. "Though don't say that to Steve. He hasn't outright said it, but it's obvious that he's pretty sensitive about his old age."

A chuckle rumbled through the room. More hands went up. Ariel raked her gaze across the crowd before pointing. "Yeah? Shoot."

"And is there a Mr. Ariel Hayward? Or a potential one?" The blonde smiled. "Any romances we should know about?"

"Oh, no." Ariel grinned. "At this point, I'm married to SHIELD."

"Any past boyfriends? Or girlfriends?"

Ariel raised an eyebrow. "None. Never had time for one." She shrugged and leaned back in her chair. "I was a high schooler at the age of twelve and still had gigantic braces up until the last month of my senior year. Not exactly ideal girlfriend material." She scanned the room. "Yeah, you?"

"I have a question for Mr. Stark."

"Of course!" Tony grinned. "Lay it on me."

"What did you see?" the reporter asked. "When you went through the portal? What was on the other side?" He looked up and waited for an answer.

They _all_ waited for an answer.

"Mr. Stark?"

Ariel glanced down at where Tony was. He was staring at the reporter, expression having gone pale and his knuckles white as he gripped the table. "I . . . . Um . . . . I—"

Ariel frowned. That wasn't good.

 **Blink.**

"I have a question for Mr. Stark."

"Aw, c'mon," Ariel said, frowning. "He's already had like ten thousand questions and I've had maybe four. Anything for me? Give it here."

The man blinked. "Actually, I wanted to ask Mr. Stark—"

"Yes?" she asked expectantly, smiling but putting in that dangerous edge she'd learned from Natasha.

The man stared at her. Then he swallowed visibly and nodded. "Of course." He looked down at his notes. "I understand that the Avengers are moving into Stark Tower. Is that correct?"

"It is. It's being rebranded as Avengers Tower. It will give us all an opportunity to work better together. To be able to protect everyone in case of, you know, more alien invasions."

"And on that note," Pepper said, stepping up to the stage, "that's time. Thank you all for coming today. Any further questions will have to wait until a later date or be routed through the contact form on the website."

When the others got up, Ariel scrambled to her feet and took Thor's hand again as he led her out. The moment they were back in the hallway, Tony turned to her. "What the hell was that?"

She pulled back from Thor and crossed her arms. "I didn't like the question he asked."

"You didn't— You didn't even hear it."

She tensed. "Yes. Yes I did."

He blinked. "You— Did you blink just to avoid a question?"

"I blinked to help _you_ avoid a question," she said.

"I didn't ask you to."

Ariel stared at him for a long time. Then she lifted her chin. "You didn't need to. We're a team, Tony. Which means that we take care of each other." Then she shoved past him. "I'm going back to the hotel for a nap. I'm exhausted."

"Wheels—"

"Wake me never."

* * *

 _"_ _You honestly have no idea how sad it makes me that I can't come. I really, really wish I could because people say that Tony Stark's bank account has no bottom, but trust me I'd find it. But I'm still a junior associate here, so I don't make much. Which means I can't exactly afford a plane ticket there, let alone round-trip."_

Ariel sighed. "Yeah, I figured as much." She wrinkled her nose at Clint when he shoved her feet aside to give him room. He dropped onto the bed beside her. "Sorry. If you have anything in mind that you want, maybe I could get it for you."

 _"_ _Yeah, maybe."_

"Is that Zyem?" Natasha asked, closing the door with her foot and balancing their coffee cups in her hands. "Tell her hi for me."

Ariel sat up and gladly accepted her coffee. "Nat says hi, Bessie."

 _"_ _Hi, Natasha!"_ Beth squealed in her ear, making Ariel jerk it away. _"Aw, now I'm even sadder I can't afford a trip to New York. I wish I could see you, too!"_

"And me?" Clint asked.

 _"_ _Missing you is the only bright part about me not being able to go."_

"Aw, so rude," he whined.

 _"_ _How's your leg, Ari?"_

"My— How did you know about my leg? They never reported what injuries I had."

 _"_ _Natasha told me."_

"Natasha told you," Ariel repeated blankly. "You and Natasha talk? That is . . . terrifying. I just want to remind you that, as a lawyer, it is illegal for you to help her cover up any crimes she's committed."

 _"_ _That . . . would be illegal regardless of my status as a lawyer, Ari. And we mostly talk about what an idiot Clint is."_

"C'mon," Clint muttered. "What did I ever do to you?"

"You've done plenty to me," Natasha said slyly, sinking down on the bed next to him and giving him his coffee.

Ariel gagged. "Ew, gross. Mental images I don't need. Why. What did I do to deserve this?"

"Aw, you love us," Clint cooed, dragging her into a hug. When she squealed in surprise and flailed, he just laughed. "Don't fight it! Let us love you!"

"Let me go! Gross, you have cooties! Bessie, save me!"

 _"_ _I'm pretty sure you brought this on yourself, Ari! I'm getting a call from my boss. Probably about this hit and run case I'm working on. I've gotta take this. Talk to you later!"_ Then Beth hung up.

"Goddamn traitor," Ariel muttered. She wriggled out of Clint's arms. "Totally unfair. I can't believe you would just sit there and let him torture me like that, Nat."

"Hmm?" Natasha smiled. "Oh, I'd help you, but this is far more entertaining."

"Et tu, Nat?"

Anything else she might have said was drowned out in her giggles when Clint pinned her down and started tickling her, shrieking that he was a tickle monster while Natasha said something about them both being children.


	7. Girl Talk is No Bark and All Bite

Chapter Seven - Girl Talk is No Bark and All Bite

 _"_ _Again."_

 _Ariel spat out blood and then dragged her wrist across her mouth. "Okay," she rasped, settling into her stance. "Ready."_

 _The redhead studied her for a moment, as if analyzing every breath she took. Then she nodded. "Begin."_

 _Ariel blocked a blow. She delivered one but it was deflected. She—_

 _"_ _Ow," Ariel groaned, lifting herself from the floor. Blood drooled from her mouth and puddled below her. "That hurts."_

 _"_ _You're overthinking. There's a line between analysis and paralysis," Natasha said, staring impassively down at her. "The trick it to toe that line but not cross it. Again."_

 _"_ _God, I can't wait until Clint is back," Ariel mumbled, dragging herself back up._

 _Natasha raised one eyebrow. "Am I not an adequate substitute, Hayward?"_

 _"_ _Uh, no, that's not— Sorry. I guess I just wasn't ready for someone to show me that Clint really meant it when he said he was going easy on me." Ariel flushed and scratched the back of her neck, wincing at the way it stretched her ribs._

 _Her trainer studied her and then stepped back, unwinding the tape around her hands. "We'll start again in the morning."_

 _"_ _What?" Ariel stepped forward, ready to protest, but her vision swam from lightheadedness. When she refocused, Natasha was gone. With a groan, Ariel sank back down to the floor. She fell back and covered her eyes with her hand in order to protect herself from the bright light that was making the pounding in her head louder. "Shit."_

* * *

"I would ask if you got everything unpacked, but considering that—minus your weapons—you walked in here with just a backpack, I'm gonna assume you've been done for three years now."

Ariel looked up from her coffee and rolled her eyes. "I like the room, Tony. Thank you."

"Yeah, yeah. It's gonna seem huge, considering you basically own nothing." He sat down next to her and snatched up one of the croissants from her plate.

"Pepper is taking me on a shopping spree this afternoon," Ariel mused. "I'll probably fill it up with a few things."

"Ugh. Finally. Where are Thing One and Thing Two, by the way?" Tony asked, giving Steve a little wave at the man joined them in the kitchen.

"Clint and Nat? They said they were pickin' something up," Ariel said, shrugging. "So not sure. Where are Bruce and Thor?"

"I showed Bruce his lab, so he's been playing around. But Thor headed down there a few minutes ago, so I bet they'll be up here pretty soon." Tony polished off the croissant and licked his fingers. "Hey, Capsicle."

"Hmm?" Steve sat down at the table, spreading strawberry cream cheese on his bagel. "What is it?"

"You've seen Star Wars, right?"

"Seen . . . ." He frowned. "What?"

Ariel choked on her coffee and spluttered for a moment. "You haven't seen Star Wars?" she gasped out. "How is that even possible?"

"Well, c'mon, now," Tony said. "He _was_ in carbonite for a good hundred years."

"Ice, Tony. I was in— Hundred? I was not—"

Ariel waved a hand, interrupting him. "No, you don't— He's making a reference, Steve. You wouldn't understand." She glanced at the elevator and lit up. "Bruce! Steve has _never_ seen Star Wars!"

Bruce blinked. "That's not exactly surprising."

"Star Wars?" Thor asked curiously. "What is Star Wars?"

"You know what this is starting to sound like?" Tony mused. "This is starting to sound like an excuse for some movie nights."

"I like what you're saying," Ariel said, grinning. "There's probably lots of things that Steve—and Thor—need to see. Jurassic Park, Ghostbusters, Back to the Future, Star Trek—"

"I thought you already said Star Trek," Steve said, looking confused.

"No, that was Star Wars. Big difference. We need to make a list."

"Got it," Tony said, leaning back in his chair and propping his feet up on the table. "J? Start a list of shows and movies we need to introduce the old timers to."

"Of course, Sir," JARVIS responded. "I believe now would be a good time to let you know that Agents Barton and Romanoff have returned to the Tower and are asking everyone to stay on the common floor until they arrive."

Ariel glanced up at the ceiling. "Should . . . we be worried?"

"There seems to be no cause for concern."

"Yeah, that's not really as comforting as you think. They're pretty sneaky." Ariel finished her coffee and got to her feet, gathering up her cup and plate. She moved to the sink and started rinsing them off. "Chances are, Clint's roped Natasha into playing a prank on someone. Probably Tony."

"Why me?"

The elevator opened. "Ari!"

Ariel fumbled with the cup and jerked her gaze up. "Wha— Bessie?" She set down the cup. "What the hell are you doing here?"

Clint grinned. "We got Stark to buy her a couple plane tickets for us."

"Oh my— Bessie!" Ariel squealed and limped across the room as quickly as she could. She slammed into her friend's arms. "I can't believe you didn't tell me!"

Beth laughed. "Well, that defeats the purpose of a surprise, doesn't it?" She squeezed Ariel tightly and looked up. "Hi! It's nice to meet you."

Clint cleared his throat. "Everyone, this is Elizabeth, Ariel's friend. While Ariel is the cute, friendly cinnamon roll, Elizabeth is the angry, burnt toast."

Bruce blinked. "Really, Barton?"

"Oh, believe me. Ariel may be the trained assassin, but Elizabeth will shank you and leave you to die in the nearest gutter if you so much as look at her wrong."

Beth rolled her eyes and turned to the room. "You can call me Beth. I'm an attorney, so I'm not exactly running around shanking people in my free time."

Steve was the first to step forward, holding out his hand. "It's nice to meet you, ma'am."

She shook his hand firmly. "Dear god, you're even bigger in person than I thought."

He blinked. "Oh, um. Thanks?"

Her gaze slid from him to Thor and her jaw dropped. "Fuck. I take it back. You, sir, are _huge!"_ She stepped up to him and then reached out, poking him firmly in the chest. "Holy shit, you're real."

Thor just grinned at her. "It's nice to meet a friend of Lady Ariel!"

"Oh my god." Beth turned to Ariel. "I'm gonna swoon. Catch me."

"I will not," Ariel said flatly. She motioned the others forward. "This is Bruce."

"Banner, right. Ariel read your papers obsessively all through high school. Her winning science fair project was actually based off some of your work," Beth said, smiling as she shook his hand.

Bruce glanced at Ariel and then back at Beth. "Oh, well, that's nice to know. It's nice to meet you."

"If you two are ready to go, Pepper is waiting for us in the garage," Natasha cut in. "Girls' day, remember? Pepper's got a nice itinerary. We're going to the spa before lunch and then we've got the enter afternoon and evening to ourselves."

"Right!" Ariel stepped over to where she'd left her flats by the couch and slipped them on. She patted her pocket to check for her phone. "Ready."

"Great!" Beth hooked an arm through hers and started dragging her forward. "Let's go!"

Natasha threw a wave to the others. "I'll probably bring them back alive. Don't wait up for us." She herded both of them into the elevator and pressed the button for the garage. "You didn't bring any guns, did you, Ariel?"

"No. Just a couple knives. Don't worry, I'll hide 'em at the spa so the masseuse doesn't get ahold of them."

"I didn't bring any guns either," Beth said, shrugging. "Not that, you know, anyone was really worried about that with me."

"You're more dangerous with your words and a law book than you could ever be with an actual gun," Ariel said, rolling her eyes. "Besides, do you even know how to shoot? Did I ever get around to showing you that?"

"No, you didn't," Beth said dryly. "I get the gist of it, though."

The elevator door opened and Natasha shook her head. "We'll have to teach you. It's safer that way. Hi, Pepper."

Pepper smiled and held out the keys for Natasha to take. "We're taking the red Audi. Go ahead and get in."

Ariel slid into the back with Beth. "So, what's the plan, Pepper?"

"Pampering," the woman responded easily. She held up a card and waved it. "And it's all on Tony's dime."

* * *

"My skin is so fucking soft."

"I'm trying to sleep, Bess," Ariel mumbled into her pillow.

"I've never had my legs waxed before. They're so _hairless."_

"That's the idea. Go to sleep."

"Feel."

"I don't want to— Holy—" Ariel jumped and scrambled backwards. She tumbled out of the bed. "Your feet are ice cold!"

Beth burst out laughing and peered over the edge of the bed. "Have a nice trip?"

Ariel pouted up at her. "I hate you."

"No you don't." Beth took her hand and pulled her back on the bed. "C'mon, this is our first sleepover in a whole year. You can't just sleep."

"It's a _sleep_ over."

"It's a misnomer," Beth said, lifting her chin. "A misnomer and you know it. We have to talk. I'm flying back in the morning and I _need_ my girl talk."

"Fine," Ariel sighed, falling back against her pillows. "Talk, then, you monster."

Beth grinned, laying on her stomach and hugging a pillow. "Thor is hot."

"Oh, god, I changed my mind. Shut up. Just let me sleep." Ariel rolled over and put her pillow over her head.

Beth snatched the pillow away. "Aw, c'mon, I'm looking out for your best interests here! You need a boyfriend!"

"I do not."

"I know, I know. That whole married to SHIELD crap you gave at the conference. But I have _never_ seen you with a guy, Ariel, and I think it would do wonders to smooth out your rough edges."

"My rough edges," Ariel said dryly.

"Yeah, well." Beth shrugged. "You're a romantic, baby, don't deny it. You cry over Ellie and Carl in Up, no matter how many times we watch it."

"Okay, listen, _everyone_ cries over those two. If you don't cry during Up then you're just a monster."

"Yeah, they cry because it's sad. You cry because they're in love and _you_ love that."

Ariel stuck out her tongue.

"Admit it!"

"Okay, fine, I'm a romantic. So sue me. That's what you lawyers do, right?"

Beth groaned dramatically and hit Ariel with a pillow. "You're such an idiot. I'm trying to get you a boyfriend, Ari. Cooperate." She folded her legs beneath herself, pillow in her lap. "Alright. So, Thor."

"Nope. He's got a girlfriend, Bess."

"Got it. What about Rogers?"

"Bessie," Ariel whined.

"I'm just saying! Listen, I know you love SHIELD. I know you love what you're doing. But I _know_ you, Ariel. I know that you want to fall in love. You want to get married, you want to have a family, you want to grow old with someone."

Ariel sat up, hugging her knees to her chest. Then she sighed. "Yeah, I know," she mumbled. "But I'm in no rush, Bessie. When it happens, it'll happen."

Beth cocked her head at her. Then she sighed. "Right. Okay. Sorry for pushing it."

Ariel nodded. Then she reached out and shoved the other woman with her foot. "How are things with Trevor?"

"Ugh. Terrible. We had our two year anniversary and he _forgot_ it." Beth wrinkled her nose. "I mean, I get that people forget things. I wouldn't even be upset about it if he wasn't such an ass about it afterward. Talking about how it wasn't a big deal. How I was overreacting."

"Jerk. Dump him."

Beth fixed her with a glare. "You've been telling me to dump him from day one."

"Because he's been a jerk from day one. I'm right about that and you know it."

Beth stared at her for a long, long time. Then she cleared her throat and glanced to the side. "So, how have Clint and Natasha been?"

"We're doing that? Really?"

"Ari, c'mon."

Ariel sighed. "Alright. Yeah, they've been great." She smiled tensely. "Just great."

* * *

"I love you, baby." Beth squeezed her tightly and shook her. "Get me those shirtless photos of Stark if you can."

"Gross," Ariel whined again.

"I'm sorry. What?" Tony asked.

"And you guys." Beth turned on the Avengers. "Take care of her for me, got it? She may be able to kill a man seventy different ways, but she could literally kill herself by stubbing her own toe."

"Bess—"

"So I'm trusting you guys to keep her alive and happy. Got it?"

Thor smiled broadly and boomed, "Of course, Lady Beth! You can trust me to take care of my shield-sister! Do not worry."

"Oh, with you I know she's in good hands, big guy." Beth grinned and patted him on the arm. "Thanks." She turned. "Alright, then. Looks like that's my ride."

"Happy will take you straight to the airport, but don't be afraid to ask to stop for food or something if you want," Tony told her. "You got everything? I don't want to be finding any My Little Pony toothbrushes around the Tower."

"The MLP toothbrushes are Clint's," Beth said easily. "Mine is an Optimus PRime toothbrush and yes, I packed it. Happy already put my bag in the car for me. Such a gentleman. Oh! Idea! Ari—"

"No," Ariel said firmly. "Absolutely not."

Beth pouted. "Fine. Right." She saluted playfully. "It was nice meeting everyone. I'm off, then." She ducked into the car. "Let's blow this popsicle stand!"

Ariel grinned and waved as the car pulled away. Then an arm was thrown around her and she jumped. "Wha— Oh, hi, Tony. What's up?"

"I need to talk to you about your uniform and everything. You free?"

"Oh. Yeah, well, I guess now is as good as ever." She let him steer her into the Tower. "Did you get the specs from SHIELD?"

"Sure did. There's already a lot of things I saw that can be improved." They stepped into the elevator. "Workshop, J. Anyway, so, we've all got our thing, right? Thor's hammer, Cap's shield, Barton's bow, and so on. What's yours? Your gimmicky weapon?"

"My—" Ariel blinked. "Um, I don't have one."

"Would you like one?"

"I guess. That'd be nice. I'd need something close quarters."

"Good. Think about it." He stepped out of the elevator and up to the glass doors. He tapped in a code and then opened the door. "Welcome to my workshop!"

"Whoa." Ariel turned in a circle, staring around the area. "This is incredible, Tony. Holy cow."

"I know. Get yourself settled. We have some work to do."

She nodded and hopped up onto one of the table. She started fiddling with her boot and just watched as he began pulling up different projects—her uniform, her utility belt, her bombs, her knives, her—

"I liked the scepter."

Tony jerked and snapped his stare up to her. "You _what?"_

"The scepter. I liked it. Not the mind control and all that." She waved a hand. "But it was handy. Close quarters was useful with it, especially for incapacitating rather than killing, though the spear part was a nice touch. There's just something satisfying about hitting people with a stick."

"So . . . a bo staff. You want a bo staff. Got it. One fancy bo staff, coming up." He cracked his knuckles. "Let's get started."


	8. One Big Happy

Chapter Eight - One Big Happy

 _"_ _Wrench, please," Ariel called, holding her hand out. The heavy weight settled in her hand and she shifted on the skateboard, wrinkling her nose as oil dripped on her forehead. She tightened up the pipe. Then she wheeled herself out. "There we go. One working tractor."_

 _Clint arched an eyebrow. "You sure about that?"_

 _Ariel made a face. "I read like twenty websites and six manuals since last time. It better be working."_

 _Clint swung up into the seat and turned the key. The tractor roared to life, the engine rumbling healthily. He grinned and turned if off. "Great! It only took you eight days and five tries to fix it right."_

 _"_ _Now, though, I have the engine of a John Deer tractor completely memorized. How useful that information will be," she said dryly, climbing to her feet and wiping her greasy hands off on a towel._

 _"_ _Maybe not information that specific, but you practice fixing enough mechanical things like this and I promise you that the general knowledge will be helpful someday. Barney bought an old used car the other day. You get to work on that next."_

 _"_ _Now?" She asked, tired but still grinning._

 _"_ _No, not now. Now you get to help me hang up the Christmas lights."_

 _Her smile faltered a little bit. "Alright. Where do we find those?"_

 _He frowned at her expression and then cleared his throat. "They're in the attic. Laura roped Barney into setting up the tree with the kids, so we just have to string up a few outside and then we're good."_

 _She nodded and didn't say anything else. Not when they were retrieving the boxes for the attic or when he set the ladder against the roof and climbed up. Finally, he paused in his hanging and looked down at where she was on the ground, untangling a string of lights. "Kiddo?"_

 _She glanced up for just a second before returning to her work. "Yeah?"_

 _"_ _Are you okay?"_

 _She pressed her lips together tightly and lowered the lights into her lap. "Um, yeah. It's just that Terry and I were pretty big on Christmas. I . . . though I'd be able to celebrate with her again. That's all."_

 _Clint sighed and then stepped down the ladder. "Alright, up you go."_

 _She blinked up at him and then climbed to her feet, brushing the dirt off her jeans. "What?"_

 _"_ _I'm going to finished this up on my own. You're going to go inside and get washed up and take the rest of the afternoon off, okay?"_

 _"_ _You sure?"_

 _"_ _I'm sure. Go on in, kiddo." He reached out and tugged sharply on her braid._

 _She stuck her tongue out at him and then skipped up the porch. Almost instantly, a small figure attached itself to her leg. "Ariel!" Lila shrieked. "The tickle monster's gonna get me!"_

 _Ariel glanced up to find Cooper laughing loudly as he turned the corner. She swept Lila up and settled her on her shoulders, where the girl instantly wrapped her small arms awkwardly around the top of her head. "It's okay. I'll save you!"_

 _"_ _Ariel," Cooper whined, sliding to a stop. "That's not fair!"_

 _"_ _It's totally fair," Ariel said, holding onto Lila's ankles. "I'm Lila's knight in shining armor."_

 _"_ _You're a princess," Lila protested._

 _"_ _And you're not wearing armor," Cooper pointed out._

 _"_ _Hey, I'm pretending, you punk," Ariel said, reaching out and ruffling Cooper's hair. "Alright, Lila's it! You get a five second head start."_

 _Cooper squeaked and dashed off. Ariel lifted Lila off her shoulders and set her down. "Ready? Three, two, one. Go!"_

 _Giggling, Lila raced off after her brother. Ariel watched her go, smiling sadly._

 _"_ _Are you alright?"_

 _Ariel jumped, glancing to the side to find Laura watching her worriedly. She rushed a smile. "Yeah, of course. Clint sent me in for a shower. So I should probably get on that."_

 _Laura nodded, smiling faintly. "Alright. Dinner will be done by the time you're out."_

 _"_ _Alright, thank you."_

 _"_ _Anytime."_

* * *

"You should stop."

Ariel just scowled and wiped at her nose. "I'm fine," she muttered, glaring at the coffee cup on the table. "I'm just practicing."

"You're bleeding."

"I'm _fine."_

"Hey, no." He tapped her shoulder. "Take a break. You'll still have your superpowers in the morning. But I'd rather you didn't end up back in the hospital."

"I'm—"

"If you say you're fine one more time, I'll tell Clint what you've been doing."

She snapped her gaze to him. "That's not fair," she growled.

"I never said I was going to be fair," he said, offering her his hand. "C'mon, let's go for a walk. Some fresh air will help you."

Ariel glared up at him. Then she took his hand and let him pull her to her feet. "Let me get my shoes," she muttered, moving to where she'd left them by the elevator. She rubbed her nose again. "You're a pain, Steve."

"You're not the first person to tell me that. That was Bucky's favorite thing to remind me about." He was the first in the elevator.

"Bucky?" she asked curiously. She rubbed her thigh, wincing at the way it ached. "That was your friend, right? War buddy?"

"Best friend, from long before the war," he corrected. "First floor, JARVIS."

"Of course, Captain."

Ariel slotted her hand into the crook of Steve's elbow. "Tell me about him," she ordered. "I haven't heard any of your old timey stories yet."

"Old timey stories," he said, chuckling. "Well, if you're gonna make fun of my age, I might not."

"Aw, c'mon, Stevie," she whined. "Please?"

"Fine, fine." He guided her through the lobby and then outside, where he turned the two of them in the direction of the park. "His name was James Buchanan Barnes, but everyone called him Bucky. Except for his ma. His ma always called him James. One kid at school, Nash, called him Jimmy, but just once because Bucky decked 'im into next week. Though," —Steve considered it for a moment— "that may have had more to do with the fact that Nash tried to look up Betty's skirt than anything else."

"Ouch. That Nash sounds like a real charmer."

"You have no idea. Naw, Buck was the real charmer. Dancing, wooing, home cooking, the whole nine yards. Took courting to a whole 'nother level. His ma always taught him that dancing is the most basic form of communication, and I think he really took that to heart."

"Do you dance, then?"

"Oh, he tried to teach me. I was . . . okay, I guess. Never got much practice. Never had anyone to dance with."

"Huh." Ariel considered that for a moment. Then she lit up and bounced. "Oh! Steve!"

"Yes?" he asked, smiling.

"We should go to some lessons! We should dance together!"

He blinked. "What?"

Ariel swung out so that she was walking backwards, facing him, and she grabbed up both of his hands. "I want to dance with you, Stevie. I think it'll be great! You already know kinda how to, right? You can help me."

"You want to do that?" he asked doubtfully.

"Of course!" Ariel faltered and dropped his hands. "I mean, if you don't want to— If it would bring up bad memories, or— You don't have to— I just thought— It's fine."

Steve smiled softly. "I'd love to." He offered her his arm again. "You still wanting to hear stories?"

Ariel flushed and nodded. "Yes, please." She put her hand on his arm and snuggled back up against his side. "So, sounds like Bucky was a regular ladies man."

"You have no idea."

* * *

"Boom!" Clint slammed the small gift box down in front of her.

Ariel jumped. "Wha—" She yawned and rubbed her eyes. "What's this?" she asked, nudging her coffee aside.

"Tony made you a new beeper, as promised." He moved to the coffee pot and poured himself his own mug.

As Ariel began unwrapping the box, Bruce looked up from his book. "Beeper?"

"Yep." She pulled it out. It was smaller than her previous one. Sleeker, more discreet. It looked like a very, very, very small earbud. She fit it in her ear and clicked it on. Ariel sighed as the familiar pattern started. "It beeps once a second. I started using it originally to learn how to be constantly keeping track of time, to the second. And now it's just comforting."

"Oh. That's a smart solution."

She glanced at him and grinned. "Oh, man, this one is amazing. It doesn't impede my hearing at all." She pushed her coffee towards Clint. "Finish this for me. I'm gonna go thank Tony." She hopped to her feet and headed for the elevator. "JARVIS, where's Tony?"

"He is in his workshop."

"Great! Take me there." Ariel tapped her leg in time with her beeper. When the elevator opened on the other floor, she stepped out and then tapped in her personal code to the workshop. The door unlocked and she pushed her way inside. "Hey, Tony—"

"Wheels! Perfect! Just the girl I wanted to see! Come here! Come look!"

"Wha— Okay." She moved over to where he was. Then she stopped short and frowned at him in concern. "Tony, how long have you been down here?" Her gaze flicked to the grease-stained blanket on the futon. "How long—"

"Look!" He grabbed her arm and dragged her forward. "I finished your stuff. Uniform, belt, staff, knives, and all your fun little knick-knacks that you like to play with." He pulled her over to a table near the back of the room. Then he threw out his hand, as if he was making an over-dramatic presentation. "Behold!"

Ariel stepped forward and stared down at everything laid out in front of her. "Oh. My. God. Tony, this is . . . _amazing,"_ she breathed. "And I just came down here to thank you for my beeper."

"You need to try it all so I can see what adjustments need to be made."

"Got it." She gripped the hem of her shirt and yanked it over her head.

"Holy— What the hell are you doing?" Tony cried out, throwing his hands up to cover his eyes.

"Trying on the uniform," she said, shimmying out of her pants. "Relax, Tony. It's just a body."

"Of course you'd be the type of person to be all scientific about it," he muttered. "Just— Ugh." He kept his hand over his eyes. "Put it on. Let me know when you're done."

The uniform was a bit of a cross between Natasha and Clint's. She pulled on the black catsuit, which was sleeveless and ended in a turtleneck. "I'm not naked anymore," she said in amusement, sitting down to pull on the combat boots.

Tony lowered his hand slowly and then let out a sigh of relief. "Right. Okay. Your boots have some fun little surprises. I'll have JARVIS send you all the specifics, but I'll show you a couple." He leaned down and ran a finger across the toe. "Steel-toed. But then inside . . . ." He did something to the toe and a knife popped out of the sole of the boot. "Tada!"

Ariel gasped and her eyes lit up. She tapped her other boot on the ground the way he'd shown her and a knife popped out there as well. "Awesome," she breathed. Then she paused. "How do I put them back?"

"Reverse it."

"Oh." She tapped and dragged her toe sideways and the knife slid back in. She did the same to the other foot. "Too cool." She turned back to the table and picked up the vest there. "This looks like Clint's," she said, studying the dark red fabric.

"I based it off of his," Tony admitted. "Try it on. How does it move?"

She slipped it on and zipped it up. "Armored?" Then she began pulling on the fingerless gloves and arm bracers.

"New kevlar variant I've been working on," he said, studying her as she twisted side to side. "How's it feel?"

"Feels good. I like it." She picked up the utility belt. "This looks a lot like my old one."

"A bit, yeah. But I improved it. More space inside, better durability, better fit."

"Sweet." She latched it around her hips. Then she picked up the knife sheaths and strapped them to her thighs. She tested the weight of her knifes and then slid them into their holsters. "These are good."

"Of course they are," he said, sounding offended. "You think I'd make something that isn't good?" He passed her guns to her and watched as she strapped them on. "Feel clunky?"

"No." She shook her head. "This is good." She reached back, feeling the strap at her lower back. "What's this for?"

"That's a holster for this." He picked up the dark metal bar that was sitting on the table It was about ten inches long and about twice as large around as a quarter. In the middle was a small slider switch. "This is your bo staff." He tossed it to her. "Try it out."

She caught it and looked it over. Then she pressed the switch. The staff sprung out, extending.

Tony grinned. "It's actually in between a bo and a hanbo, since it's five feet. But I didn't want to make it any longer because then it's be taller than you."

She pouted at him. "Rude. I'm five foot three, not tiny."

"That is pretty tiny." He shook his head. "Actually, it will extend more. See these rings in the middle?" He drew her attention to the way the middle of the staff was segmented in the same area as the switch. "These rings and this switch can do quite a bit. Make it longer. Make it shorter. And—" He twisted one ring and moved the switch and a spear-like blade thrust out of one end. "Pretty cool, right?"

"Super cool," she said, eyes wide. She let him take it from her and revert it back to its original state. Then she slide it into its holster on her back. "And you'll send me all the specs?"

"Right. J?"

"I have sent them to Agent Hayward's account," JARVIS said.

"Thanks, JARVIS! Damn, Tony, you're like the world's best sugar daddy."

Tony made an odd sound. "Right. Let's never call me that again. I don't like that at all."

Ariel grinned and stretched. "This is great, thank you. You're still up for tonight, right?"

"Hell yeah. Time to introduce the clueless blonds to Star Wars. You got popcorn?"

"Popcorn, candy, hot chocolate. Everything. We're set. And— What is _that?"_

"Huh?"

"That!" she said, pointing and marched towards one of the other tables. "Oh my god. You're making Clint a crossbow?"

Tony grinned. "You want to try it out?"

* * *

"Cookies?"

Ariel glanced back and grinned before returning to measuring out the chocolate chips. "Yep! You're down here early. Movie's not till seven."

"Well, I came down to thank you. JARVIS said you're the one that left the gift at my door." Steve leaned against the counter and watched as she started mixing up the batter. "So thank you."

"They fit? I wasn't sure if SHIELD's files had your shoe size correct."

He chuckled. "Yes, they fit."

"Great! Well, we need to try them out sometime. My physical therapist said I should go easy on my leg for a few days, so . . . Wednesday?"

"Sounds good. Dinner?"

"And wine?" she asked hopefully.

He shot her a flat look. "Not quite, kiddo."

She stuck her tongue out at him. "Fine. Dinner and dancing. Wednesday. I'll ask JARVIS if he can get us reservations somewhere. Can you open the over for me?"

"Right."

He did so and she slid the tray of cookies into the oven. "Thanks. Has Tony given you your new equipment yet?"

"Naw, not yet. He's still working on mine. He give you yours?"

"Yep! I'm super badass, now. Watch out, evil, I'mma kick ass and take names." She set the timer and then started cleaning up the counters. "Whoops, spilled the flour."

"I've got it. Where'd Tony put the broom?"

"Uhhh, I dunno if he even knows what a broom is. JARVIS?"

"There is one in the closet to the left of the elevator."

"Got it. Thanks," Steve said, moving to get it. "Oh, hey, Bruce."

The doctor smiled as he stepped out of the elevator. "Hi, Steve, Ariel. What smells so good?"

"Cookies," Ariel chirped, dumping the dishes in the sink. "Chocolate chip and peanut butter. They'll be ready for the movie in an hour. They're good, I promise."

"If they're anything like the pancakes you made this morning, I'm sure they're great," Steve assured her.

"Pancakes this morning, enchiladas last night, cookies now." Bruce fiddled with his glasses and grinned. "I think you're just trying to get us all fat."

"I've been feeding Clint and Nat for years and they haven't gotten fat yet. If you get fat, that's your fault, not the food." Then she lit up. "Ooh! I should make brownies! Steve, get me the cocoa!"

* * *

She finished mixing the butter in with the popcorn as she stepped back into the main area. She picked her way carefully across the couches and snuggled back into her spot wedged between Steve and Natasha. She nudged Steve and he wordlessly reached over and took a handful of popcorn, still staring at the screen. Ariel grinned and sank back into the cushions. When the credits started rolling, Steve made a sound of disbelief. "Wait, but—"

"I very much enjoyed this tale!" Thor boomed. "Is there more?"

Tony grinned. "You have no idea, buddy. JARVIS, start Empire Strikes Back, please."

"You like it?" Ariel asked with a grin, turning a bit so she was leaning against Steve's shoulder with her feet in Natasha's lap.

"It's different," he commented. "Different than anything I've seen before, but I like it. You said this was supposed to be . . . in the past?"

"Yep. Waaaaaay in the past. Like, a long, long, long time ago."

"In a galaxy far away," Clint chimed in from his spot on the floor. "These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its continuing mission to— Oof!" He broke off as a pillow hit him in the face.

Natasha leaned back with a smug smile. "Don't confuse him, zolotse. Just keep watching, Steve. It'll make sense eventually."

As the intro for the next movie started, Ariel yawned and settled down fully against Steve's side. "You're warm," she mumbled.

He chuckled and looked down at her. "Tired?"

"No," she said stubbornly. "I can stay awake for hours."

"It's the pain meds she's still on," Natasha said, finding a knot in Ariel's calf and rubbing it out with her thumbs. "A side effect is fatigue."

"I am _not_ tired," Ariel protested. She pressed the popcorn bowl into Steve's hands and then hid a yawn. "I'm good for five more movies."

"Sure thing, kid," Steve said, laughter clear in his voice. "Why don't you just rest your eyes for a minute? Then you can watch the next movie with us."

"That's a good idea," she said, eyes drifting closed. "I think I'll do that. I'll be back in . . . in like two minutes."


	9. Glasses for Your Sorry Sight

Chapter Nine - Glasses for Your Sorry Sight

 _"_ _Mama, am I a mermaid?"_

 _Antônia looked away from her book. "A mermaid? Now why would you be a mermaid, bebê?"_

 _"_ _My name is Ariel," the girl pointed out. "So I'm a mermaid, right?"_

 _Antônia laughed and set her book aside. "Oh, no, no. That's not why you're called Ariel. Ariel is someone from a play." She pulled her daughter into her lap. "Ariel was a powerful spirit, a force of nature. Ariel, you know, means lion of God. And isn't that just perfect for you, my little lion?" she asked, dancing her fingers across Ariel's stomach._

 _Ariel squealed and wriggled. "Mama, stop it!"_

 _Antônia smiled and leaned her head forward against Ariel's. "I named you Ariel because, in the end, Ariel is the happiest, freest, most powerful character of them all. Do you understand?"_

* * *

"I've come with coffee and an ultimatum."

Tony looked up and blinked, still wrist deep in wires and electronics. "Well, I like one of those things," he said cautiously. "Do I want to know?"

She came to a stop next to him but made no sign of giving him the drink. "Thanks to JARVIS, I know that you have been in here for forty-three hours without taking a break to eat or sleep." She wrinkled her nose. "Or shower. So here's your options: you drink this coffee to keep yourself awake long enough for you to take a shower and then eat the food I make you, and then you relax with me for a couple hours until the caffeine wears off and you manage to make it to sleep."

He stared at her for a long moment, as if waiting for something else. He cleared his throat. "Or . . . ?"

"Or I ask JARVIS to shut off all the lights in here."

"You can't do that."

"No, but I know a virus or two that can." She waved the cup at him. "Besides, JARVIS likes me and he doesn't like you locking yourself in here. If you really think we couldn't shut this place down if we wanted, then you clearly don't know me very well at all."

"Are you threatening me? I feel threatened."

"Good. That was the general idea I was going for."

"I won't be intimidated by a toddler."

"Rude. This toddler could kill you."

"Ooh. Scary." He eyed the coffee for a long time. Then he groaned and pulled his hands from the machine he was working on. "Fine. Give it."

She set the coffee down on the table and watch as he picked it up. "Shower. Also, do you want chicken marsala or spaghetti and meatballs."

"Hmm . . . . Surprise me," he said, starting for the door. "Or both. Either is good. I don't care."

"Spaghetti and meatballs it is, then. I'll make enough for four of us."

"Just four? Penthouse, J."

"Clint and Natasha are eating out with Thor and Jane. Some sort of double date situation, I think. Can you go any faster, JARVIS? I didn't really think the whole being stuck in an elevator with his stink thing through."

"I'm sorry, Agent Hayward," JARVIS responded. "I'm moving the elevator as quickly as I can."

Tony started grumbling, clutching his coffee to his chest. As soon as the elevator opened, Ariel shoved him out. "Shower!" she ordered. When the doors closed again, she said, "Main floor. Where are the others?"

"Doctor Banner is in his lab. Captain Rogers is already on the common floor."

"Great." The elevator doors opened and Ariel stepped out. Steve was lounging on the couch, book in hand. He didn't seem to register that someone else was on the floor. She paced forward and then leaned over him. "Hi!"

Steve jumped. "Holy— Ariel," he said in realization. He groaned and fell back against the cushions. "Why?"

She moved so she was leaning on the back of the couch and grinned down at him. "You wanna help me cook? I managed to drag Tony out of his workshop and I'm gonna make spaghetti and meatballs."

"From scratch?"

Ariel exaggerated her expression of horror. "How dare you. Of course it's from scratch. I cook everything from scratch, you monster. You gonna help or not?" Then she frowned. "Are you . . . reading a history textbook, Steve?"

He shut the book and set it aside. "I'll help you."

"No, no, no. We're gonna talk about this. This isn't even a casual reading book." She snatched it up and weighed it in her hands. "This is a _college_ textbook."

"I have a lot to catch up on," he mumbled.

"Yeah? Well, you're going about it the wrong way. I'm confiscating this," —she waved the book at him— "and we're watching some documentaries instead. JARVIS, can you cue up some relevant movies?"

"Of course, Agent Hayward. I have one ready to go right now."

"Great! Go ahead and play it while we get started on cooking. You get to chop the onions for me." She tossed the book onto one of the other couches and moved into the kitchen to wash her hands. "I'll pull out the ground beef and get the water rolling."

The TV started on a panorama of the London skyline and the narrator began.

* * *

She awoke to her own screaming and a soothing British voice.

"Agent Hayward, it is one o' seven in the morning, June 12th, 2012. You are at Avengers Tower. You are safe."

She couldn't stop. She was choking out apologies between her screams and her sobs. She clawed at her throat, trying to stop herself. Trying to stop the screams.

"Agent Hayward, do you need me to contact someone?"

She pressed her face into her pillow, hoping that was stop her. Hoping that, maybe, if her air ran out she then wouldn't be able to scream.

"Agent Hayward, I can't contact anyone unless you give me permission."

She could feel her lungs constricting, failing to breathe. Satisfaction and horror uncurled in her gut. She forced her face down harder. Stop, stop, stop. Why couldn't she stop? Why couldn't she save them? Why did she have to hurt them?

"Agent Hayward, please turn over. You need to breathe. You're concerning me."

Ariel turned over, gasping for air and throat burning with aridity. She snapped her right hand up to her mouth and closed her jaw around the soft side of her thumb. She tasted iron, but her screaming stopped. She bit harder.

"Agent Hayward! I must advise against this course of action! Please remove your hand from your mouth. I will be forced to contact one of the others so they can administer first aid."

She tried to say something but she couldn't, voice muffled and choked. She sank into her bed with a whine.

"I have contacted Captain Rogers. He's on his way from the gym."

Ariel whimpered and pulled her hand from her mouth. She leaned over the side of her bd and fumbled for her trashcan. She spat out blood. "No," she rasped. "I'm fine. He doesn't need to come here."

"He's in the elevator."

"Tell him he doesn't need to be here," she demanded, balling her hands into fists. She winced the action pulled at the fresh wound in her hand. The world in front of her swam. "I'm _fine."_

"Captain Rogers is insisting. He has reached your floor and would like entry."

"No." Ariel groaned and covered her face with her hands, wincing when she felt the blood smearing across her cheeks. "I'm fine." She fell back into her pillows and moaned painfully, unable to keep her eyes open so she could focus.

"I'm afraid that my protocol to protect this Tower's inhabitants overrides your wishes to be alone, Agent Hayward. You are clearly in a severely distressed state. I am unlocking the door for Captain Rogers."

"No," she mumbled, but she couldn't exactly think straight and couldn't even get up to re-lock the door herself. So instead, she curled into a fetal position and covered her head, feeling vulnerable. Maybe it she got small enough . . . .

"Ariel?"

She flinched back from the voice and scrambled away. Apologies, unbidden, crowded her throat and spilled from between her lips.

"Whoa, whoa. C'mon, I'm here to help." Strong fingers closed around her right wrist and pulled.

"No, no, no—"

"Ariel, it's me. It's Steve." He tugged her forward. "Sit up. I'll get something for your hand." He gripped her shoulder and pulled her up.

She sat up shakily and pulled her hand away. "I'm fine."

"Okay," he said moving away to her bathroom. "But I don't believe you. So you're going to sit there and let me bandage up your hand." He returned, carrying the med box. He set it on the bed beside her. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No." She hissed painfully when he started cleaning out the bite marks.

"Sorry. I won't take too long."

"I remember everything that I did. That's why I can't sleep."

He paused. And then he reached for the bandages. As he wrapped her hand, he said, "That makes sense. You know it wasn't you, right?"

"Do I, though? Do I know that? Do any of us? The style, the strategy? That was all me."

"Can you imagine that you would ever shoot Clint if you were in your right mind?"

"No. I would never."

He finished off her bandage and nodded. "Well, that's it, then, isn't it? You were forced to take actions that you never would if given a choice." He shut the box and set it on the floor. "I know that doesn't mean it will be easier to sleep. But I need you to know that. Logically, at least."

"Right." She hugged herself and rocked back and forth a bit. "Thanks."

He studied her for a moment. "Are you going to be okay if I leave?"

She hesitated and then, brokenly, whispered. "Can you stay? I—" Ariel hesitated. "Sometimes Clint and Natasha will stay with me. It . . . it helps me sleep, knowing that someone is there for me. With me."

He watched her for a moment.

Ariel flushed and ducked her head. "Sorry. That's a weird request. Just ignore—"

"It helps you sleep?"

"Yeah," she mumbled. "But you can just go. I know. Your whole gentleman thing from the Forties probably forbids you from staying with someone you're not married to or— Just— I'll be fine. Go. Just go."

"Move over," he said, pulling back the covers. He kicked off his shoes and socks.

"Wha— Okay." She shuffled to the left and Steve crawled in beside her. "Thanks," she murmured.

"Of course." He turned off the lamp and laid back against the pillows.

After just a moment of hesitation, Ariel pressed up against his side. Then she said, "You're sweaty."

"Well, I did just come from the gym," he pointed out.

"Right. Um . . . why were you up so early? Nightmares."

He just hummed in response to that. "You sleep with a nightlight?"

She followed his gaze to the small, dim light plugged into the wall across the room. "Uh, yeah. I don't, I don't like the dark." She cleared her throat. "There was a mission that went wrong in Beijing. Just, um . . . left some bad memories."

"Ah. That makes sense. You don't have to explain."

"Thank you."

"Now go to sleep."

* * *

Ariel woke up feeling well-rested and secure, though her hand ached. She shifted to get more comfortable.

"Oof! Hey," a voice croaked out. "Watch were you put those pointy elbows."

Ariel shot up and blinked furiously to clear her vision. "Steve?"

He yawned and dragged a hand down his face. "Good morning."

She glanced at the clock that read exactly six o'clock. "Um, hi. Good morning. Thanks for staying last night. Er, this morning?"

He chuckled and pushed himself up. "Of course. Now, I'm going to go finally take that shower to wash the gym off of me."

"Sounds good. I'll make some breakfast on the common floor."

"Ooh." He lit up. "Delicious."

"You don't even know what I'm making yet."

"Doesn't matter." He waved to her and then ducked out the door.

Ariel groaned as she got to her feet, stretching until her back popped. "JARVIS, does the kitchen have a waffle iron?"

"It does, Agent Hayward."

"Perfect. Thanks, JARVIS."

* * *

"Hi, Steve!" she squealed, bouncing up to him. "You look great!"

He glanced at her, finishing adjusting his suspenders. "So do you. Ready?" He offered her his arm. "Dinner's within walking distance. I thought you wouldn't mind."

"Of course!" She put her hand on his arm and followed him out of the lobby and onto the street. "Tell me more about Bucky."

"What do you want to know about him?"

"Anything. I like it when you talk about him because you seem . . . less stressed, I think? Plus, your Brooklyn accent gets stronger." She poked him. "So, c'mon. How'd you meet?"

"Oh, that—" He started laughing. "Okay. Um, so I was seven. He was eight. David McLowery was making fun of Susie McGregor's red hair and so I decked him. Or at least I tried. He was big for his age and I was always small for my age. Plus, I was recovering from the flu, so I more kinda stumbled at him. Susie ran off and David and his friends started wailing on me. That's when Buck showed up. His dad was a boxer, ya know. So he got in several good hits and told them to start pickin' on people their own size."

"Aw, so were you the damsel in distress in this story?" she asked, grinning.

"Are you really gonna make fun of me every time I talk?" he asked, holding the door open for her. Then he nodded to the hostess. "Reservation for Rogers."

She smiled and looked through her book. "Here you are. Right this way."

Ariel grinned. "Ooh, steakhouse. I love steak." She mumbled her thanks when Steve pulled out a chair for her and then she took the menu. "So, you met when you were seven?"

He nodded. "Best friends for twenty years. Until . . . ." He shook his head. "Yes."

"Right. Okay, tell me about the other Howling Commandos, then."

He raised an eyebrow. "You really want to hear about them?"

She grinned. "Of course I do! C'mon, spill!"


	10. Call It a Daymare

Chapter Ten - Call It a Daymare

 _She was screaming in her dream and she was screaming as she awoke and that unbridled terror was the only true constant between the two. Her throat was raw and bloody by the time arms came around her._

 _"_ _Whoa, whoa, kiddo, what's wrong?" Terry murmured into Ariel's hair. "Talk to me."_

 _"_ _I, I— There's so much fire," Ariel choked out. "I couldn't stop him. I couldn't— I let him die!"_

 _"_ _You didn't. You did nothing wrong," Terry said firmly. "Listen to me. You did absolutely nothing wrong at all."_

 _"_ _I . . . don't believe you," Ariel whispered._

 _"_ _You should, sweetheart. You should."_

* * *

"I think she had the hots for you, Stevie."

He groaned. "No, stop that. I think that from now on, I'll just stick to dancing with you. I've never been that uncomfortable in my life." He stepped out of the elevator.

She giggled, stumbling out after him. "We're home!" she announced loudly.

Tony looked up from his spot on the couch, controller in hand. "Welcome back. Ugh, you brought Steve."

"Charming, Stark," Steve said, smiling. "Really."

"How was dancing?" Bruce asked.

Ariel beamed. "Great! As it turns out, I am _awesome_ at it. You should come next time, Brucie."

"I, I'm not sure that's a good idea. I get nervous around large crowds, and I have two left feet."

"Right." She smiled. "Well, then I'll just teach you here, then, okay?" She dropped down onto the couch next to Tony and smoothed out the skirt on her dress. "What are y'all up to?"

"Super Smash Brothers," Clint grunted from the floor. "C'mon, just— C'mon, man! I had you there!"

"Ooh! I wanna be Bowser!"

"He is not available!" Thor boomed. "I am Bowser!"

"What? I'm always Bowser!" Ariel pouted. "Fine. I'll be Kirby."

"Oh, no good. I'm Kirby," Tony said.

She scowled at him. Then she reached over and plucked the controller from his hands. "Problem solved."

"Hey!"

"You can be Peach."

"I don't wanna be Peach."

"Then you can be Samus. She's kinda got her own Iron Man suit going on, right? Steve! You should play! Who do you wanna be?"

"Um, I don't— I'm not familiar with this. What is it?"

They were interrupted by JARVIS said, "Agent Hayward, you have an incoming video call from Director Coulson."

She blinked. "Oh, uh, okay. Tell him to hold on. I'll answer it in my room."

"He would like Thor to be there as well."

"Oh." Ariel motioned to Thor. Then she dropped the controller in Tony's lap and got to her feet. "We'll be right there. Why don't you guys go ahead and explain this all to Steve?" She followed Thor to the elevator. "My floor please, JARVIS." She glanced at Thor. "You know what this is about?"

"I believe I do. I spoke with both the good director and the Allfather about establishing a proper diplomatic channel between our two realms."

"Oh." The elevator opened and Ariel led the way into her own room. She picked up the console ball sitting on her end table and set it on her coffee table. Then she sat down. "Go ahead and bring up the call, JARVIS." Then she squeaked when Thor sat down, making the cushions she was sitting on jump.

A holographic screen appeared above the ball and Coulson showed up. "Hayward, Thor."

She smiled. "Director."

He paused and raised an eyebrow. "You look nice, Ariel."

She beamed. "I went swing dancing with Steve. Thor said this was probably about diplomatic relations with Asgard?"

"Precisely. We would like to establish relations between Asgard and both SHIELD and the Avengers. As you are part of both, I decided you'd be the best for the job."

"Wha— Me? Why me? Why not . . . Steve? Or Nat? Or Clint?"

"Well, Steve might be a good speaker, but he'd crack under the stress of diplomatic negotiations. We can't risk that. Natasha's previous history with diplomacy has always involved manipulation and, quite possibly, assassination. I don't think that would go over well. And Clint is . . . well, Clint."

She sighed. "Yeah, that makes sense."

"You can do this. I wouldn't have decided on you if I didn't believe in you."

"I agree with the Director, Lady Ariel. You have a brilliant mind, well suited for complex and intellectual discourse."

"I . . . . Thanks, Thor." She took a deep breath. "Okay, then. What do I have to do?"

"Thor will familiarize you with Asgardian customs, history, traditions, and so on. I also have a lot of information I'm sending over. You have two weeks to prepare. The two of you leave on the 29th. Any questions?"

"Um." Ariel blinked. "So like, do I wear a suit?"

Coulson chuckled. "Hardly. Thor has communicated with SHIELD's costuming department about Asgardian wear and they're preparing several outfits for you. You'll go in on the 20th for fittings."

"Right. Um, okay. When's the info supposed to get there?"

"Should be there in the morning. I'd suggest you get plenty of sleep. You have a lot to go over." He smiled. "Good luck."

"Thanks."

The video disappeared and Ariel stared at the ball console instead. Thor put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm honored to be working with you."

She glanced up at him and managed a smiled. "Thanks, Thor," she murmured. "I, uh, I think I'm gonna get a shower and go ahead and go to bed. So I'll be well-rested tomorrow morning."

Thor got to his feet. "Of course. I'll inform the others of your new assignment." He smiled and left.

Ariel went through her shower in a haze, washing out the hairspray that Natasha had loaded her with in order to keep her hair up in its Forties style. The water ran hot at first, but then the cold shocked her back into awareness. She stumbled out and pulled on her pajamas before crawling into bed. JARVIS lowered her lights and her nightlight flickered on. Ariel drifted off to sleep.

Only to wake up screaming two hours later. Ariel bit down on her hand again until she managed to stop and waved off JARVIS's concerned. Then she stumbled into her bathroom and blearily bandaged herself up again. "I'm fine, JAR," she mumbled, stepping into her slippers and shuffling out through the hallway to the elevator. "Main floor," she rasped.

"Of course, Agent Hayward," JARVIS said softly.

When the elevator opened again for her, she stumbled into the kitchen. Ariel yawned and filled a kettle, setting it on the stove.

"Ariel? What are you doing up?"

She jumped and whipped around, snatching out the knife she kept at her hip. Then she focused in on the figure in front her.

"Whoa! It's just me. Just Steve."

"Oh." She licked her lips. "Sorry." She tucked the knife away. "What are you doing up?" Then she frowned. "You're still dressed."

"Yeah, well." He lifted the empty popcorn bag he was holding. "Cleaning up. The others headed to bed just a few minutes ago, but Clint and Tony had a food fight so it was a mess out here."

"Oh. Okay." She moved to the cabinets and took out a mug. Then she pulled out the canister of hot chocolate powder. "You want any?"

"Uh, sure. Thanks." He threw the bag away and went back over to the couches, where he started gathering up the empty bowls there.

Ariel got out another mug. "Whipped cream?"

"Please."

Ariel busied herself with making their drinks while he finished up. Then she joined him at the table and set a mug in front of him. "Drink up."

"Thanks."

She sat down and cradled the hot mug. "So, um, Thor told you about what Coulson wants me to do?"

"Yeah. Sounds like you'll be great at it. Let me know if there's anything I can do to help."

She nodded and they fell into a comfortable silence. She finished her hot chocolate and just stared down into her mug, dreading the idea of going back to her room and returning to those nightmares.

Steve got to his feet and took her mug. He moved to the sink and started rinsing them out. Then he motioned to her. "C'mon."

Ariel blinked and looked up. "What?"

"I said c'mon. You can stay in my room tonight." He held out his hand.

"Really?" Ariel bounced to her feet and took his hand. "Thanks."

When they got to his room, he waved towards the bed. "Go ahead." He dug through his dresser and pulled out some clothes. "I'm going to take a shower." He disappeared into the bathroom.

Ariel snuggled down in his bed and took a deep breath, letting the light filtering under the door comforting her into drowsiness. She was just drifting off when the door opened and she jerked in her sleep.

"Just me," Steve murmured to reassure her, leaving the bathroom light on and the door open just a touch. He moved over to the bed and slipped in beside her. "Go to sleep," he mumbled, curling around her.

"Mmm. You're like a giant teddy bear," she yawned. "Night, Stevie."

* * *

She'd known he'd been there for about an hour, but she didn't acknowledge him until she finally dropped down onto the bench clenching a bottle of water. "Can I help you?"

"Just checking up on my equipment. It's treating you well?"

"Yep." She weighed the collapsed staff in her hand. "I'm loving them. Thanks again."

Tony beamed. "Great. I'm already working on some ideas for improvements." He held up the tablet. "Was watching for flaws and stuff while you were working out that a better uniform could help with."

"Huh." She grinned and set down her water bottle. Then she dropped her staff next to it and rose to her feet. "C'mon. We're gonna spar."

"What?"

"I said we're gonna spar. That way, you can see it all up close. Plus, it's good practice for if you're ever caught outside your suit."

He eyed her for a long moment. Then he hauled himself to his feet with a groan. "I'm not exactly dressed for it."

She eyed the sweatpants and hoodie he was wearing. "Lose the hoodie and you'll be fine." She moved over to the mats. "Let's go."

Tony groaned and peeled off his hoodie, revealing the black tank he wore beneath. Then he shuffled after her. "I fight just fine."

"Maybe," she conceded. "Hit me. I'll be doing defense only. Get in a solid hit on me and we'll call it quits."

He stepped onto the mat an eyed her. "Fine. Okay. I can do that."

It was when he hit the mat for the sixteenth time that he moaned and didn't move to stand back up. "You're just teasing me at this point," he groaned. "You know that there's no way I could hit you."

"I'm going easy on you," she said, fixing up her ponytail. "You just have a lot of work you need to get done until you'd ever be good at fighting outside your suit."

"Well excuse me for not being—" He waved a hand at her and climbed to his feet. "Whatever the hell you are."

"Okay, rude. C'mon, I'll make you a smoothie. It'll help replace all those calories that your old man body needs." She grabbed his elbow and steered him towards the elevator. "How do you feel?"

"You said you were only gonna do defense," he whined.

Ariel squinted at him for a long moment. "That _was_ defense, Tony."

And then the alarm went off.

"JARVIS," Tony barked out. "What's going on?"

"SHIELD has requested assistance. There are robots attacking Manhattan."

"Robots attacking—" The elevator opened and Tony stepped out. "I'll get my suit. JARVIS, take Ariel to the quinjet. Have everyone meet us there."

"Yes, Sir."

As the doors closed, Ariel pressed her fingers up against her beeper to focus. "JARVIS, what do you know?"

"The robots seem to be a mixture of attempts at recreating a drone version of the Iron Man armor while utilizing chitauri materials and technology."

"Shit," Ariel growled, leaving the elevator and pushing her way towards the jet.

JARVIS sounded almost amused when he said, "Aptly put."

"The others?" she asked, stopping briefly by the armory locker and making sure she was plenty stocked as far as bullets and her other weapons went.

"On their way."

She slipping out a com and turned it on before fitting it in her ear in favor of her beeper, which she stored away in her pocket. She heard the door open and glanced back. "Ready?"

"Are you?" Steve asked, frowning. "You aren't supposed to be in combat for another few months."

"I don't return to _SHIELD_ for another few months," she corrected. "I'll be fine, worrywart."

"You better be," Clint said, clapping her on the shoulder and jogging up into the quinjet where he immediately situated himself in the cockpit. Natasha cast Ariel a smile and followed.

"Code Green only," Steve reminded Bruce as they walked up the ramp alongside Thor.

Bruce nodded, pulling at the sleeves of his shirt. "Of course."

Steve met Clint in the cockpit and the ramp closed as Ariel ducked inside. "Stark's meeting us there. Take us out. JARVIS, do you have any information on who's causing this?"

"Unknown, though I do believe I have a location. The abandoned observatory."

"That's the source of the drones?"

"Yes, Captain."

"Got it." He fit his com in. "Stark, you on?"

 _"_ _Roger, Rogers."_

Steve shook his head, but his lips twitched in a smile. "I want Iron Man, Thor, Blink, and Hawkeye to do damage control. Stop the drones and corral them as best as you can. Limit casualties. Black Widow and I will search for the source, and whoever's doing this. Understood?"

"Yes, sir." Ariel finished tying her hair back in a fresh fishtail braid. "Hawkeye needs to start high up, Thor and Iron Man can switch on their own, and it'll be best if I start low."

"We'll drop you first."

"Aye, aye, Captain!"

"Approaching the— Holy shit!" Clint swung the quinjet to the side to avoid the drone that dove at them. "We're here!"

"Blink."

"Got it. Lower the ramp." She moved forward.

"Parachute?"

Ariel eyed the drones below them and shook her head. "No. I've got an idea." And then she jumped.

She heard a hiss in her coms that she just knew was Clint. But then she tackled the drone and locked her legs around the robot's hips. "Let's go for a ride," she muttered. It bucked beneath her and she buried her hands around its neck and reached for that well of power that had been bubbling inside her for god knows how long, but that it had taken the scepter for her to see. It shocked through her fingers and the metal crumbled beneath her.

Her stomach dropped as they began to fall and the launched off of that drone towards another one, swinging out her bo staff. A twist and a click and it extended, a spear splitting out of the end. She stabbed it through that drone and swung herself around her it to throw herself towards another, twisted her bo staff again to retract the spear and release its hold on the second drone. She leapt off and landed on the ground in a roll. "I touched down," she said into the coms, just before swinging around and dismantling another robot.

 _"_ _Good,"_ Steve buzzed in her ear. _"Hawkeye, you ready to drop?"_

 _"_ _Aye, aye, Captain!"_


	11. Easy Doesn't Do It

Chapter Eleven - Easy Doesn't Do It

 _"_ _Someday, I'm gonna be a police officer."_

 _"_ _Oh?" Isaac looked up from the homework he was grading and smiled. "I thought you wanted to be an astronaut. What changed your mind?"_

 _Ariel smiled sadly as she felt herself waking up and watched as his visage rippled. "You died," she whispered._

* * *

It was one in the morning and her insomnia had attacked, so she'd focused on reading her Asgardian diplomatic prep files in hopes that they would put her to sleep. She was finally starting to nod off when a knock on her apartment door made her jerk in surprise. Ariel rubbed her eyes. "JARVIS?" she yawned.

"Captain Rogers is outside your door."

"Oh." She blinked. "Oh!" Ariel shoved her things off her lap and scrambled up and to the door. She jerked it open. "Steve?" she asked in bewilderment. She took in the pale draw to his face, the way his shoulders were hunched, and frowned. "What's wrong?"

"I, uh— Sorry." He flushed and shoved his hands into the pockets of his sweatpants. "I just, um."

"Bad dream?"

"Yeah. Something like that."

"Got it." She reached out and took his hand, pulling him forward. "Come on in."

"You have trouble sleeping too? JARVIS said you'd been awake for a while."

"Hmm? Yeah. I figured if I couldn't sleep, I could get some work done." She scrambled to clear the papers and books from her bed. "Give me a second."

"You really should slow down, you know," he said, watching as she stacked her things on her desk. "You were working all day, too."

"Well, I'm Earth's first space ambassador. That's . . . a lot of pressure." She moved past him and climbed into bed. Then she flipped back the covers for him. "You want to tell me what's going on?"

"You want to actually take a break for once?" he shot back at her.

Ariel held up her hands to show that they were empty. "I'm done working. I promise."

He eyed her for a moment and then nodded. Steve slid into the bed beside her. "I, uh. I haven't been sleeping well ever since I woke up."

"Right." She eyed him for a long moment. "How . . . long have you been awake?"

"About . . . nine months, I think?"

"Oh." She shifted close to him. "I thought it had been longer."

He shrugged and then opened his arms to her. "Most people assume that, actually."

Ariel buried herself in his hold against his chest. "So really . . . you're still pretty young, aren't you?"

"Um . . . yeah. I'll be twenty-eight next month. So I guess."

"God. Sorry, I just— Holy shit, Steve. I mean, I know we joke about you being ancient, but I think sometimes everyone forgets you're more _my_ age than you are theirs."

"It's okay."

"Is it? Is it really?" She twisted to frown worriedly up at him. "Steve—"

"I'm fine."

She gave him a flat look.

"I'm mostly fine."

She narrowed her eyes at him.

"I . . . . I'm not fine," he mumbled. "Sorry, I lied. I, I don't know why I did that."

"I do." She shrugged and then settled back against his chest. "I mean, when during the war was Captain America allowed to be anything less than okay?"

Steve didn't answer that.

"Exactly. Military is a hell of a conditioner. 'sides, believe me, I know how hard it is to trust someone enough to admit that you're not okay." She pressed her hand against his and he flattened his fingers out and let her waffle their hands together. "Nightmares? Insomnia?"

"Um . . . both of those," he mumbled, dropping his head down so he rested his forehead on the top of her head. "It started out with just Buck falling, you know. And me not saving him. Again. But then I got this team and— You fell tonight. I couldn't grab you in time."

She hummed in response and squeezed his hand tightly. "I'm here," she reminded him.

"Yeah. I know." He curled his free arm around her. "Thank you."

* * *

Ariel groaned as loud music cut through her dream. "The hell?" she mumbled, struggling to consciousness. Arms tightened around her and she paused, reorienting and trying to remember who was in her bed. She yawned. "Steve, I gotta answer it."

He made a noise of complaint, but his grip on her loosened enough for her to unentangle herself and scoot to the side of the bed. Rubbing her eyes with one hand, she fumbled blearily for her phone and held it up to her ear. "Hello? Who is this? I think," —she interrupted herself with another yawn— "I think Clint changed my ringtones." She blinked, trying to clear his vision.

 _"_ _Sweet! What did he change mine to?"_

"Uhh . . . ." Ariel shook her head, honing in on the familiar voice. "Safety Dance."

 _"_ _Huh. Original or a cover?"_

"Original."

Steve made an annoyed sound and his arms wrapped around her, him gripping the edges of her comforter to keep it around his shoulders. "Why do you keep your room so damn cold?" he mumbled.

Ariel glanced back at him. "Sorry." She shifted so that she was against the headboard and Steve's head was pillowed against her stomach.

 _"_ _Oh my god, do you have someone in bed with you? Oh my god, oh my—"_

"Shut up. Hey, JARVIS, can you set my room's temp to match Stevie's room." She dropped her hand to Steve's head and started carding her fingers through his hair.

"Of course, Agent Hayward," the AI responded.

 _"_ _Oh my god!"_ Beth shrieked. _"You slept with Captain America!"_

"I did not."

 _"_ _You fucked Captain America! Oh. My. God."_

"I did _not_ fuck Captain America," Ariel hissed into the phone, her fingers tightening in Steve's hair.

He jerked a bit, blinking up at her. "Um . . . . Who are you talking to?" he whispered.

"Bessie." She pulled the phone away from her ear and put it on speaker. "Say hi to the most annoying love of my life, Stevie."

"Oh." He stared at the phone. "Hello, Elizabeth," he greeted cordially just before dropping his head back against Ariel's stomach and looking like for all intents and purposes he was planning to go back to sleep. Ariel returned to combing through his hair.

 _"_ _Hey, Captain!"_ Beth trilled. _"Are you in Ari's bed?"_

"I'm not answering that," he murmured to Ariel.

She rolled her eyes. "Did you need something, Bess?"

 _"_ _Just have a weird case that we just closed on. The client said I could share the details after I mentioned that you'd be the one receiving it. Unsolved missing person. Fiancée sued the hospital her man disappeared out of."_

Ariel frowned, pausing in her movements. "Is there something special about it that made you think of me?"

 _"_ _I— It's just weird, Ari. Want me to send you the info?"_

"Huh. Yeah, sure, I'll take a look."

 _"_ _Sweet. Sending it your way now! I've gotta go, though. Have a meeting. Have fun with Steve!"_

"For the last time, I am _not—"_ Ariel cut herself off, glaring at the screen that showed Beth had ended the call. She groaned and tossed her phone back on her nightstand. Then she slid her hands down to Steve's tense shoulders and started working out the tension there. "Hey, big guy. How'd you sleep?"

"Well, I actually slept," he mumbled. "Thank you."

"'Course. JARVIS? Did I get the email from Bessie?"

"Yes. Would you like me to display it?"

"Please."

The email popped up and Ariel glanced across the documents attached before opening the first one. As she read, Steve eventually disentangled himself and escaped from her bedroom. About twenty minutes later, she heard her shower start running. That made her look up from the info for a moment, but then she refocused.

She was finally interrupted when Steve shoved a plate directly in her eye-line and proudly announced, "I made muffins."

Ariel dismissed the documents with a wave of her hand and took the plate, inspecting the food curiously. "I didn't know you could bake."

He ran a hand through his wet hair and sat across from her, holding his own plate. "I had a box mix I grabbed from my suite. It's not as good as what you make, but it'll work." He took a bite and then mumbled, "How's the missing person's case?"

"Weird. Sorry, the client approved it for my eyes only, so—"

"It's fine. Though . . . are you sure about it? On top of the ambassadorship—"

"I'll be fine. Trust me, I've been doing this for years. Doubling time has its advantages."

He looked doubtful. "Well . . . just don't push yourself."

Ariel smiled. "I know my limits."

She didn't mention how she always ignored them.

* * *

"Pair off," Steve ordered. "Ariel, you're with Thor. Tony, you're with Clint. Natasha, with me."

"Ugh," Tony groaned. "Why do we have to do this?"

"Team training is important," Steve said firmly, stepping up to spar first.

"Then why isn't Brucie sparring?"

Bruce sighed. "Do you really want to risk me hulking if someone hits me, Tony?"

Tony took a long moment to answer, actually seeming to consider it. Ariel snickered. "Personally I'd love to see Tony spar the Hulk. Is that just me?"

"Yes," Steve answered easily. "That's definitely just you. Natasha?"

The woman nodded, already in her stance. "Ready."

"JARVIS, three minutes on the clock." He tilted his head to the side. "Or surrender."

Natasha smirked. "I'm Russian, Rogers. I don't surrender."

"Alright then. Begin."

As the two flew into their spar, Ariel got busy taping her knuckles and sizing up Thor. A hand clapped her on the shoulder and she glanced to the side. "I'm screwed. You know that, right?"

Clint grinned. "I wouldn't say that. You could probably figure out how to take Rapunzel down if you really tried."

"Steve said no powers."

"You're more than your powers, kiddo. You know that."

"But against a _god?"_

His grin just widened. "Good luck. You're gonna need it."

She huffed and turned back to the match just as JARVIS called time. Breathing heavily, both of them stepped off the mats. Steve motioned to her. "You're up."

Ariel took a long, shaky breath and stepped up, turning to face Thor. He beamed at her. "It is an honor!"

"Yeah, sure." She lowered herself into her stance. Three minutes. That's just how long she needed to last.

"JARVIS? Timer." Steve cleared his throat. "Begin."

Thor thundered forward and Ariel dropped out of his path, sliding between his legs. She hooked his ankle as she went and he stumbled. Ariel pushed off the ground and latched onto his back, curling her arm around his neck.

Something twisted her shirt and she squeaked as she was yanked and thrown forward. Ariel locked her legs around his shoulder and refused to fall. Thor brought his other hand back to hit her and she nailed him in the face with her foot. And just like that, she found herself flung across the room.

All the air slammed out of her when she hit the wall and sank to the floor. Her back screamed in protest when she tried to move and she felt iron in her mouth from where she'd bitten through her lip. Ariel sagged forward, coughing, and distantly heard worried voices. A shadow fell over her.

"My apologies. Ariel, are you alright? I didn't mean to harm you."

Thor bent down and extended a hand to her. Ariel reached shakily for it. The moment she had a good grip, she kicked off the ground and over him. When she landed, she rolled and yanked him with her. He hit the ground with a deafening thud and Ariel kept his arm twisted behind him and placed her foot on his neck. "Surrender?" she asked, lip stinging and blood trickling down her chin.

With the way his face was pressed into the ground, Ariel could just barely see the edge of Thor's grin. "I do," he said.

At that, Ariel released him and stumbled back, wiping at her mouth. Off to her right, someone said, "Holy shit." Tony. That was definitely Tony.

"Hey." A hand touched her shoulder. "Let's get some ice on you." Steve steered her from the mats. "Tony, Clint, go ahead." He guided her to the bench and then opened the first aid kit. He brought out the ice pack and cracked it to activate it. He pressed it into her hands. "There you go." He grinned. "Good job. I was wondering if you'd be able to take Thor down. Nice psychological tactic."

Ariel pressed the ice pack to her lip and squinted at him. "You paired us on purpose, didn't you?"

"Of course I did."

"You jerk. Thor's like six times my size!"

"And yet you beat him, didn't you?"

"'Cause I managed to trick him. That's not gonna work again."

Steve's grin grew. "Well, then you'll just have to try again, won't you?"

* * *

"Hey, Tony, you missed dinner so I brought . . . some . . . ." Ariel trailed off, staring at the workshop. "Um . . . Tony?"

He stopped and glanced at her, wrist deep in one of his suits. "Yeah?"

She stepped cautiously forward and set the bowl on one of the tables. "Um, are you . . . okay?"

"Yeah. Why?"

Ariel glanced pointedly around the cluttered workshop, littered with suit parts and blueprints and empty coffee mugs. "How long have you been down here?"

"Not too long."

"Sir has been in the workshop for fifty-seven hours," JARVIS informed her.

"Thanks, J." Ariel crossed her arms. "Tony.

Tony scowled. "Way to throw me under the bus, baby boy. Did you need something, Wheels?"

"I brought dinner. JARVIS, when did Tony last eat?"

"He has had two smoothies in his time here."

"Right. Okay, Stark, stop what you're doing and eat. It's some yummy stroganoff for you right here, okay?"

"But—"

"Now."

He squinted at her. "Christ, okay, fine. You don't have to get all scary on me." He wiped his hands clean and moved for the bowl.

Ariel sighed and softened her tone. "Tony . . . what's going on?"

"What do you mean?"

"You're . . . working yourself to death in here. We hardly see you. What's going on?"

Tony blinked at her. "I'm fine."

"Tony."

"I'm fine, Wheels. Really."

"I don't believe you."

"I know."


End file.
